


How To Save a Life

by Lumiellie



Series: How to Save a Life [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abused Snape, Alternate Universe, Angst, Flashbacks, Gen, Good Severus Snape, Juliette Aurum, Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape Friendship, Pre-Movie(s), Ravenclaw Remus Lupin, Ravenclaw Severus Snape, Second Chances, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Young Severus Snape, somewhat angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 05:06:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12051942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumiellie/pseuds/Lumiellie
Summary: Snape finds himself having come back to life as his eleven year old self. Having regrets from his previous life, Severus is determined to make things change for once and for all. After being sorted into a different house with different people, things begin to change.





	1. Chapter 1

Severus Snape could feel his body floating through the air. Well not exactly floating, but he knew something was different and he wasn't sure what it was. The last thing that he remembered was being bit by a snake, if you would call it that. His last moments involved releasing some memories to the child of Lily Evans. Now here he was, filled to the brim with regrets. He regretted causing the death of Lily Evans and her family. He regretted being a death eater. He regretted ending the friendship between him and Lily. Lily was the one he loved, the friend he admired most. Looking back, he saw the friends he had back in Slytherin, but they weren't really friends to him. They were more like the people that would cause him to reach the point of no return.  _Why did I have to fuck up like that? I should have known better. I should have done something differently. I regret everything I have ever done,_ Severus thought to himself, nearly crying.

He felt a mysterious force push him down. Severus looked around at his surroundings and noticed that he was sitting on a path surrounded by white pillars. In the distance he could see someone, someone who seemed too familiar, someone who he knew.  _Lily,_ Snape thought to himself,  _I'm so sorry. I fucked up, don't tell me that I didn't. I joined the death eaters, spyed on the Order for Voldemort. I treated Harry terribly and made his life a living hell during potions class. I delivered the prophecy to Voldemort that caused your death. I never should have done any of this, I regret it so much. I hate myself for hurting you. I mean it Lily. Ever since the day we met, I was in love with you. I wanted you to be mine._

Lily walked towards the Potions Master, the tears welling up in her eyes. She knew he had been through a lot, from living with an abusive dad to having the Marauders bully him. Yet her former best friend turned out to be the good guy in the end. That had meant a lot to Lily, she would have been romantically interested in Snape had he not been interested in the Dark Arts. She didn't hate Snape, in fact she had been pregnant when she died and had talked James into letting her

name Snape as the future child's godfather. James reluctantly agreed and they both wanted to apologize to Snape.

Snape ran up to Lily, tears building up in his obsidian eyes as he hugged her, repeatedly muttering, "I'm sorry Lily, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve this at all. I never should have supported Voldemort, I regret it so fucking much. Please forgive me. Please."

Lily looked at the man who was completely broken down in front of her. She felt bad for him, his mistakes had finally caught up to him, yet she couldn't find it in herself to forgive him for the way he had treated her son. Or any of the members of her former house. Especially the poor boy Neville. Lily pushed Severus away from her saying, "Forget it Snape. I can forgive you becoming a death eater, but I will never forget that. Especially with the way that you treated Harry. My poor baby. He didn't deserve that. Go away."

Snape ran off, his black robes billowing behind him as he ran. He needed some time to himself, he wasn't in a very good mood at the present moment and he needed to clear the thoughts that wracked his brain from his head. He found a tree and found himself sitting at the base of it. He thought he saw James in the background. Or was it Harry?

James was running up to him, the laughter rising in his throat. He wanted to laugh so hard. Finally he could get revenge on Snape. His son had never deserved any of the mistreatment from Snape and James would see to it that he would get revenge on the much older and wiser man. Sure he had grown up a lot since the fifth year, but he had been wanting revenge after he had been hit with the killing curse. "Hey Snivellus, how's heaven working out. Oh wait, this is Hell. I'm sure Lily would have accepted you had this been in Heaven. You're just a worthless grease bag. Wash your hair."

Snape ignored the nagging comments from his arch nemesis and he ran off, seeing the worn face of his mother who had been crying. "I'm sorry Eileen for the way I acted. I'm sorry. I just want another chance, please."

Eileen's tear stained eyes stared into Severus's and she could see that her son had been crying. Her son had locked away emotion; Tobias hated it when his son had shown emotion and would beat him whenever the emotion came out. Yet her son was crying. That had to mean something, he only showed emotion when something was seriously amiss. "It's okay Severus," she said, stroking the soft hair of her son.

"No it's not Mom. I fucked up," Snape wailed like a child.

"Severus, there's a way to get a second chance. If someone seriously regrets something they did, they may have the ability to go back into the past and change whatever they did for a different outcome."

"Mom, I think that's what I need."

Before Eileen could say anything, Snape felt himself being whisked back into time, he felt his body reach strange contortions and he woke up. Touching his face to rub his eyes, Snape was surprised to see a small, pale, lanky hand do the action rather than a hand worn with age. He got out of his bed and looked at himself in the mirror covered in dust.

_I'm eleven years old again_ , Snape thought to himself.


	2. An Unexpected Turn in the Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: Don't own. Regretfully. Only own the characters I make up.
> 
> I don't think Tobias Snape was physically abusive, but for storytelling purposes, he is.

Severus Snape woke up with a jolt, panting at his dream. Today he was returning Hogwarts for his "first year" and that meant he would have to be sorted again. After all he had been through, Severus wasn't sure if he was going to be put in Slytherin and he did  _not_ want to be reminded constantly of the torture James had caused him. Severus would NOT be a Gryffindor.  _What about Lily?_ He thought to himself, contemplating where she would be sorted,  _I don't want her to be with James, that arrogant brat but I'd much rather eat myself than be with him! None of the Marauders were decent people, they made my Hogwarts life hell. All because I loved Lily. She was the first person to truly care about me other than my Mum. Tobias (I refuse to call him my dad,) treats me no better than he would treat a piece of shit._

"Get up you lousy piece of shit," Tobias Snape yelled, his voice irritating the blanket of silence that had covered the room. Severus had quite liked the silence. "It's past nine-thirty, you need to make me breakfast!"

Groaning, Severus got out of his bed and took of his pale blue pyjamas. He must have fallen asleep after coming back to this life. Severus replaced the oversized pyjamas with ill-fitting jeans, a black smock and a white shirt. Tobias was known for being a drunk and often would use the limited income that he made to buy booze. While he was drunk, Tobias would beat on Eileen, but Severus remembered how he would take the beating for his mother, protective of the only one he loved.

Severus knew better than to ignore his father, he was a scrawny eleven year old who was underweight, due to the fact that his father or mother couldn't afford food. On average, he only had fulfilling meal a day. A fulfilling meal was what you got after you added up all the food eaten at each meal in the Snape household.

Tobias was a tall man who could easily beat up Severus in a battle. Though, in Severus' later years, he could have conquered his father easily, mostly due to the dance being an alcoholic had wreaked on Tobias's body.  _No child should ever be afraid of their own father,_ Severus thought to himself, remembering when he was the head of Slytherin and noticed several abused students. He seemed to have an eye for them, being one himself. When he had first become the head of Slytherin, his first year in that position, he saw a seventh year girl, Emily Samosa, with bruises on her neck and cheeks. She had tried to cover it up with muggle makeup and did a fairly decent job, but Severus noticed the ominous purple lurking beneath the foundation. He secretly ran a diagnostic spell on her and found several broken ribs, a broken left ulna, infected lash marks on her back and worst of all, she had been pregnant. That night, Severus had Emily in private and she secretly confessed everything, how her father beat her when he was drunk. Emily was sobbing almost too hard to be heard when she said that her father had raped her. Severus, who could easily relate (to the physical abuse), told Dumbledore who didn't believe him. Emily had to go back to her father, while her child was put up for adoption that summer. The next year when Emily hadn't returned, Snape had learned from Dumbledore that Emily had killed herself after a fairly violent beating from her Dad.

That had been the first time Severus had cried in years. He had failed one of his snakes. Her father wasn't even charged with sexual assault.

"Get over here you lazy-ass git," Tobias yelled, expecting his only son to make him a quality breakfast. He had a little too much to drink the previous night and was slightly hungover to his dismay. Tobias's head was pounding and he just wanted his lazy son to provide him a meal, yet Severus had taken over five minutes in his room. Clearly he wasn't respecting Tobias.

Severus ran out of his room, nearly tripping over his own feet, not noticing the larger figure sneaking up towards him. Before Severus knew it, he was laying on the ground, on his back. Tobias had kicked him in the stomach. "Get up!" Tobias yelled in a tone that could be heard halfway across the world. Severus attempted to sit up, but another kick to his ribs prevented him from doing just that. Tobias continued kicking his son in the ribs again and again, not caring if he broke something. His son would probably tell all of his freakish friends anyways.

Severus's eyes stinged with tears. He had heard cracking in his chest, he was certain that Tobias had broken no fewer than four ribs. Severus put his left hand in front of his ribs, but his father kicked that, breaking the radial bone. Finally Tobias showed mercy and stopped beating his son, who was barely breathing and stormed out of the house, going to the nearest place for breakfast.

Severus whimpered as blood pooled out of his wounds, he was in a lot of pain but refused to let it show. He could hardly breathe, let alone get up, so he lay there as a familiar nauseous feeling irked his stomach. The nausea was nothing compared to his arm. The bone was sticking out of his left arm, and probably was broken in multiple places.

"Severus my dear. I'm so sorry. I have your stuff in a trunk, we're gonna side-by-side apparate to Kings Crossing," Eileen said in a comforting voice, stroking the bloodstained hair of her child. She hated Tobias, but knew that he would murder her if she dared to run away.

Severus whimpered again as his stomach gave a lurch. He weakly vomited onto the floor beside him, blood mixed in with the stomach acid. He began to cry, his father was going to beat him even more for making a mess. "It's okay Severus.  _Scourgify. Episky."_ Eileen whispered, cleaning up the blood and vomit while fixing the broken bones. She summoned a calming draught and a blood replenisher and gave it to her child who quickly drank it up.

Severus felt better as the calming draught entered his system, making him feel a lot better. He took another potion that tasted like copper (the blood replenisher) while his mother healed the cuts on his body. Soon enough, his clothes were clean from all of the blood and Eileen had Severus's trunk in her hand. Severus held onto Eileen's hand as she apparated.

"Listen Severus. I promise you that I will find a way to escape your father. What he did to you was unacceptable and you didn't deserve it at all. In the meantime, I hope you make friends that you'll have for life. I already know you're friends with that Evans's girl, Lillian? Anyways, your father will not be here to hurt you. I better go before he realizes that I took you," Eileen whispered, her eyes showing a flicker of remorse, hoping her son would not be alone this time.

Severus knew this hadn't happened the first time around. He had woken up early enough to escape the wrath of his father and had made Tobias breakfast which he had criticized no fewer than ten times. Then he and his mother had flooded to Kings Crossing and his mother hadn't said anything to him.  _Maybe this time will be better_ , Severus thought.

After changing into his robes and the run-in with Potter and Black, Snape made a new decision and decided to sit in a compartment with a younger Remus Lupin. Lupin was asleep, so Severus began to cry. He couldn't believe that he was getting a second chance, a chance to make it right. He could save Lily from that good-for-nothing James Potter. He might be able to stop the second war and the fact that he had to kill Dumbledore for his godson.

"What's wrong? I'm Remus Lupin by the way?" Remus asked, wondering why the boy was crying. He had vampire-like skin and dark circles under his eyes, not unlike his own after a particularly bad transformation. Maybe he had found another werewolf. Perhaps he wouldn't be an outcast at this school, after all.

Severus was at a loss for words. The younger Lupin, before being influenced by the Marauders, actually cared about him. Before, Remus had been more of the brains in the group, the one that gave Potter and Black the logic behind their good ideas.

"Come on now, it's okay. I know some people have to go through hard things," Remus whispered, now sitting by the boy and stroking the long, luscious, soft, and black hair. He was surprised at how soft it was, Remus had thought it would be all weird and greasy feeling. It looked greasy.

Severus realized that Remus would be able to help him, perhaps give him a temporary home, breaking down walls Severus himself made. Maybe this time around, Hogwarts would be a  _home_ to Severus, "M-my D-dad got r-really m-mad at m-me," Severus stuttered, while Remus gave him a confused look, wondering why the anger of the crying boy's dad would cause him to be upset. He saw the trunk and noticed that it read Severus Snape, which Remus assumed was the boys name. "Come on Severus, you can tell me. No matter how hard it may seem, you can tell me. Consider me your friend."

Severus paused mid-sob and looked into the pale green eyes of Remus with his obsidian black ones. He was baffled why the werewolf would know his name, but knew that his trunk had it on. Why did Remus want to be his friend? Perhaps Remus was desperate for friends. It couldn't hurt Severus to tell the truth to Remus, despite the obvious fact that Tobias had told Severus that if he let it slip that he was abused, Severus would receive the worst beating of his life. Yet, Severus knew that telling Remus couldn't hurt him, after all, muggles couldn't get into Hogwarts. They only saw an abandoned building. Severus spoke quietly, yet more confidently than he had the first time, "My Dad beat me up before I got here. He broke four of my ribs and my radial bone. Then some people named James and Sirius made fun of me because I wanted to be in Slytherin. They said that only evil wizards join Slytherin and that Gryffindor was the best house. Then they proceeded to call me Snivellus."

Remus realized how serious Severus was, and hugged him, noticing how thin he was. Severus hugged Remus back and wiped his eyes on the sleeves of too-big robes. "Count me out. I thought they looked nice, they even offered to let me join the compartment, before you came in. I just needed to sleep, I've been sick. Don't worry, I'm not contagious. Besides, you don't seem like a Slytherin. I think you might be a Ravenclaw, just like me," Remus whispered, the melodious voice of the werewolf filling the room.

For the first time, Severus thought Remus could be right.

 


	3. New Family

Remus and Severus Snape were sitting in the compartment on the train together. In a past life, Severus never imagined himself being friends with the former Marauder, let alone crying in front of him. This was a different life. A second chance. An opportunity for new choices. Perhaps the werewolf was right, he would make a perfect Ravenclaw. He had all of his knowledge from his previous life and that was beyond that of a seventh year. He had learned a lot from being a "spy' for the dark lot and had learned how to read people. Right now the werewolf appeared to be content.

The silence in the compartment was broken by a knocking at the door. Severus opened up the door and there was a small girl. She had piercing blue eyes that could rival the colour of the sky and the curliest brown hair he had ever seen. She was wearing a pair of glasses that looked too big on her face. The girl opened her mouth to say while signalling to Severus, "Salutations, my name is Juliette Aurum. I am delighted to meet both of you. May I ask you your name?"

Severus remembered Juliette as being an insufferable know-it-all that was sorted into Ravenclaw. Just like that brat Hermione who was almost sorted into that same house. "My name is Severus Snape," Severus muttered, unsure of how the girl would react.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Severus. Who is that nice young lad beside you?" Juliette said, speaking in an octave higher than Severus did. Remus's ears practically perked up as Juliette mentioned him and he stammered, "I'm Remus Lupin, nice to meet you Juliette."

Juliette took a seat on the bench opposite of the two boys, pulling out her wand from her trunk. It was eleven inches, with holly wood, a unicorn hair and it had unbending flexibility. She smiled to herself, hoping these people would accept her. Juliette was often cast aside, scolded for being smart and occasionally causing strange things to happen. When her teacher, Ms. Pilume said that "cyanocobalamin" wasn't a thing, Juliette caused her teacher's hair to turn a grotesque shade of green. That time she only got ninety percent on an essay because she used broad scientific concepts in it that her teacher couldn't understand? The clothes of that teacher caught on fire. No one could understand why.

When Juliette had recieved her Hogwarts letter, her parents confessed something to her; they were both squibs. Non-magical children born to magical folks, they didn't expect Juliette to have magical abilities. When she first started showing signs of accidental magic, her parents were surprised. They taught her all about Hogwarts and the four houses, but Juliette knew that she was going to be a Ravenclaw. She opened her mouth to speak but Severus beat her to it, "Hey Juliette, what house do you think you're going to be in?"

Juliette paused for a second, not sure how to answer the question. She was afraid to be made fun of for being smart- or wanting to be a Ravenclaw for that matter. She lied, "Well, I guess I'd admire being Gryffindor. They're the house of bravery, right?"

Remus stepped up and said, "Well I think you'd be a great Ravenclaw. You already act like one. I'm pretty sure you're smart." Severus nodded his head in agreement.

The trolley lady stopped by and offered them food. Juliette, who had been given ten sickles, twenty knuts, and five galleons, offered to buy the compartment some candy. Severus didn't disagree, his family didn't give him any money and he didn't realize it was carved into his face. Juliette whispered into his ear, "I'll buy, I know you don't have any money."

Severus opened his mouth to protest, but it was too late, Juliette had bought him a chocolate frog and a box of Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. His mother would buy him those for Christmas, sometimes it would be the only present he got, his dad drank all the money away. As for the chocolate frog, he had never had one in his life.

Cautiously opening the frog, he stuffed it into his mouth, before looking at the card, who was Dumbledore. Severus stuffed the card into his trunk and ate the beans, scrunching his eyebrows as he got a really sour one. "Did you get a vomit one?" Remus asked Severus.

"Nah, I think it was lemon," Severus replied.

"Firs' yer's, firs' yer's, o'er here." Hagrid called out.

Severus, Remus, and Juliette piled up into a boat which contained Lily. "How was the ride Lily?" Severus asked.

"You know those boys that made fun of you? Well the one with the messed up hair tried to ask me out five times. I think his name is James or something. I ended up punching him in the face and joining another compartment. He is such a creep," Lily muttered in a pissed off tone.

Severus felt his stomach lurch at the thought of James- Potter. He hated Potter just as much as he hated his father. That boy was a cocky good-for-nothing, whereas Tobias was a drunk. Severus wasn't sure which was worse. "They also called you Snivellus and said to me that if they caught me hanging out with you, James would kiss me. I know they were bluffing but come on. Who would want to kiss that brat, let alone date him," Lily snorted, clearly repulsed by James.

Severus felt a lump rising in his throat knowing that eventually Lily and Potter would marry and have their spawn child, Harry.  _The child had the eyes of his mother,_ Severus thought to himself. Lily would fall for that cocky, arrogant, foolish brat. All because Snape showed an interest in the dark arts. Perhaps things would be different this time.

"Severus, we need to get off now. Are you even paying attention?" Juliette spoke, prodding Severus with a pointy fingernail. Severus realized that all the boats were unloading and that he would have to get sorted once again. The night air was crisp against his school robes and Severus quite enjoyed the gentle breeze.  _What a perfect way to start a horrible school year,_  he thought to himself while walking in through the gigantic corridors. "Okay so we will be having the sorting now, the four houses are Gryffindor.." Professor McGonagall spoke loudly, getting the attention of the first years. Snape focused his attention elsewhere, staring into the beautiful red hair of Lily.

The see-through ceiling was always impressive, especially with the charms cast to make it see-through. There were candles of various lengths hovering in the air. Severus always enjoyed this, knowing Flitwick had worked hard to cast these charms. A voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Aurum, Juliette," Professor McGonagall spoke while the brunette walked up boldly. The hat was set on her head and after thinking for no more than five seconds, yelled out, " ** _RAVENCLAW!"_**

The applause was deafening, the first child of the night usually had this response. Usually by the end of things, the applause wouldn't be as thick, most of the people were hungry and just wanted to eat. "Black, Sirius."

" _GRYFFINDOR!"_

"Beaux, Griffin."

" ** _HUFFLEPUFF!"_**

"Crouch, Bartemius Junior,"

**_"SLYTHERIN!"_ **

Soon enough, it was time for Evans, Lily. The young redhead walked up, her beautiful red hair flaming behind her. She looked confident and her face was pulled into a smile.  _She's definitely excited,_  Snape thought to himself,  _I wonder if things will be different this time around._

The sorting hat spoke and Severus tried to get closer. He could barely hear, "Lots of bravery, yet lots of intelligence and loyalty. I don't know where to put you. Oh, I know,  _GRYFFINDOR!"_

Severus sighed inaudibly. He knew that was bound to happen, yet he hoped she would have been sorted somewhere else. Even Hufflepuff. Just not with that Potter brat.

Eventually Remus was sorted into Ravenclaw, a major difference from the first time around. Severus knew that the werewolf was desperate for friends, knowing he had been raised in isolation. Perhaps the secret he had told Remus had changed the perception of the werewolf.

"Potter, James."

**_"GRYFFINDOR!"_ **

Soon enough, Severus heard his own name being called up. His knees felt weak and he felt like he was going to pass out. From the Gryffindor table, Lily was giving him a comforting glance. He smiled back, hoping she would understand, had he been sorted into Slytherin a second time. Professor McGonagall placed the hat upon his head and the hat spoke, "Difficult, very difficult. You have lots of knowledge, yet you're brave and cunning. And what's that? Is that loyalty I sense in that heart of yours. I don't know were to put you."

Severus muttered, remembering his mother's words, "Put me somewhere where I can make friends, people who I will love forever. Put me where I will be accepted for who I am. I just don't want to make a mistake and join the wrong side because of the way that I'm treated."

"Very well Severus Snape. You'd be a perfect match for Slytherin. Are you sure you want me to place you somewhere else?"

"Yes."

"Must be,  ** _RAVENCLAW!"_**

Severus felt his cheeks flush with colour as he blushed. Remus and Juliette clapped the loudest as he sat down beside them. The tears welled up in his eyes,  _Don't cry Severus,_ he thought, but things were different. He might have a chance this time. Maybe people would like him for who he was.

No matter what, the young potions master knew he had made a difference in his own life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cyanocobalamin is artificially made vitamin B12 which is commonly found in energy drinks.


	4. Chapter 4

Applause flooded the room as Severus Snape took his seat at the Ravenclaw table. Remus had a wide, toothy grin and as soon as Severus took his seat, he said, "It's awesome! We're in the same house, except we may have to be with that know-it-all. Whatever."

"Remus! Your comment is putting me in great distress. That didn't make me feel very jubilant," Juliette joked, smiling. She didn't seem very absorbed in the ceremony and instead she was staring into space, the denim-blue eyes of her staring wondrously at the transparent ceiling. Despite it being nighttime, the Great Hall was as bright as ever, lit by the floating candles.

"I'm glad I can be with you two. You guys are the most kind people I have ever met," whispered Severus, as Dumbledore tried to get the attention of everyone. Finally the sorting had finished.

OOOOOOOoOOOOOOO

Magnificent plates of food appeared on the Ravenclaw table. Severus's stomach rumbled and he realized how hungry he was and how much he desired food. He had never seen this much food in his life (well this lifetime, as a professor, he saw this every year). His mouth watered as the aroma of steak invaded his nostrils. Remus seemed attracted to the meat, he stared at the meat longingly, but looked away, not wanting his secret to be known. No one knew he was a werewolf, except Severus, but he knew that Remus wasn't dangerous normally. Except the full moon.

Juliette grabbed mashed potatoes, piling them onto her plate. She was a big fan of potatoes, especially since her mother grew her own. She grabbed gravy, pouring them onto the potatoes, her appetite increasing. She grabbed a bun and buttered that and picked up a chicken breast with her fork. Juliette grabbed some asparagus as well, that being her favourite vegetable. Back at home, her mother would butter them and then sprinkle salt and pepper onto them. After spicing them up, Mrs. Aurum would put them in the oven.

Severus grabbed a bunch of food, stuffing his face. His mother could never afford this much food so this was a major luxury for him. As he took a bite out of a pork chop, he thought to himself,  _Hopefully James doesn't decide to poison me again. If he does, I'll give him a taste of his own medicine_ _._

_-Flashback-_

_Severus Snape was eating at the Slytherin table, with Lucius Malfoy eagerly talking about how they got the best people in their house. The blonde prefect's grey eyes bore into Severus's as he ate, eating more than he should. Severus looked away for a second and thought he saw James Potter near his food, but he thought nothing of it._

_Back at the Gryffindor table, James Potter bragged, "I poisoned Snivellus. I put some sort of Muggle medicine that makes you throw up."_

_Unfortunately, Lily didn't hear this and wasn't able to inform Severus who was in for a bad night..._

_Finally, Severus walked to the dungeons where the Slytherin head of house and the potions teacher explained the rules. As the minutes passed, Severus realized he wasn't feeling well. At all. Finally Professor Slughorn finished explaining, Severus ran to the bathroom where he briefly emptied the contents of his stomach into the nearest toilet._

_One of the fourth year Slytherin females heard this and found Severus kneeled over, vomiting into the toilet. She summoned a bucket and took Severus to the hospital wing where he was found to have been poisoned by some muggle poison._

_Madame Pomfrey gave him the antidote and monitored him overnight. She had forgotten to tell Professor McGonagall that Severus would be late and that caused Severus to lose points because of his tardiness. It was clear that Severus was going to have a bad day._

_Then James and Sirius had laughed at him, telling him how gullible he was. Severus had tried to tell Professor Dumbledore, but he denied it, telling Severus that he was a terrible liar._

_-End of Flashback-_

James was walking to the Ravenclaw table, a smirk on his face. He was going to poison Snivellus and cause him to be sick overnight. That would be the perfect beginning of year prank. He walked up to Severus's plate of food and then realized that Snivellus's obsidian eyes were boring into his own. "What are you doing, James?" Severus growled, knowing exactly what Harry's father was planning. "Going to poison my food, aren't you? I'm not gullible and if you want to keep your life, then I suggest you get away."

"Snivellus. Wow. I thought you wanted to be in Slytherin. Guess you weren't sly enough for that, Snivellus," James snorted, knowing that the greasy-haired kid wouldn't have a good enough retort. The kid  _clearly_ wasn't brave enough to be in Gryffindor. How did Snivellus know he was going to poison him? Clearly this kid couldn't trust him.

"If anything James, I'm in Ravenclaw because at least I have an intelligence level higher than a flobberworm. You're in Gryffindor because you think putting yourself in danger constantly is brace," Severus retorted, punching James in the face. If anything, this was sweet revenge.

Remus and Juliette both said, "You just got  _roasted_!"

James eyes watered with tears, but he wasn't going to cry. Snivellus had punched him pretty hard and he didn't want to show it. Not now. Juliette had called a teacher over which unfortunately turned out to be Professor Slughorn, the Slytherin head of house. She complained, "This boy named James Potter tried to poison my friend Severus and so he punched James. Don't blame Severus, he was standing up for himself. If anything, blame that uncouth Gryffindor."

_Maybe Juliette isn't such a brat after all._

OOOOOOoOOOOOO

Professor Slughorn had taken away ten points from Gryffindor and had taken away one from Ravenclaw as Severus had broken James's nose. James was in the hospital wing plotting his revenge while the trio (Severus, Remus, and Juliette) followed their Prefect, Caitlyn Matthews to the Ravenclaw common room. The first thing Severus noticed was the abundance of books. The next thing he noticed was the stark contrast from the Slytherin common room. While the Slytherin common room was cold, even in the summers, the Ravenclaw common room had a specific aura to it that promoted the learning of others. Severus yawned, tiredly. After Caitlyn showed where the dormitories were, Severus and Remus headed to the male dormitories.

Forgetting about the scars on his back, caused by the lashings from his father, Severus took off his robes in the dormitory, oblivious to the fact that Remus was watching him. After putting on his pyjamas, Severus went to brush his teeth. Remus had came in and confronted him, "What's that on your back Severus?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Graphic descriptions of abuse. If you are easily triggered by this, this chapter is not really important to the storyline, but I added it in to show how different some characters can be in an alternate timeline.

Severus was appalled by Remus's question, knowing that he had told Remus that he was abused. Did he think I was kidding? Was that really necessary? I'm not a liar, Severus thought to himself. I bet his father doesn't beat him. He may be a half-blood, but I bet his parents care about him. He's the only child they have.

Remus repeated himself, knowing what the scars were, "What's that on your back Severus, what is it."

Severus stuttered, "It's n-nothing, d-d-don't wo-worry ab-b-bout it R-r-remus."

"You know that it's not nothing Severus. It's something that your father did to you. You don't deserve that Severus, especially with those two Gryffindors wanting to cause you harm. This place is probably your only escape from your abusive home life and that's extremely valuable to you, considering the fact that if you went home, you would get hurt. And not just physically, but mentally as well. Can you tell me what those scars are from."

Severus swallowed a lump in his throat. He hated talking about the abuse, even in his second life, the thought of his father still scared him. He was beginning to get used to his smaller frame and his eleven year-old instincts told him that his father was someone to avoid. Hopefully his mother would find the courage to escape this time. Feeling a surge of confidence, Severus spoke clearly, the partial lie evident in his voice, "My father whipped me with an actual whip. He came home drunk one night and started to beat up my mother. I defended her and punched him and I don't remember what happened other than waking up in great amounts of pain."

**~Graphic Flashback~**

_Tobias Snape had a little too much to drink. Four bottles of whiskey and half a dozen beers made his drunken state completely unbearable. He felt nauseous and would vomit at any second. He stumbled up the stairs outside his house and proceeded to ring the doorbell, not caring if he woke his family up even though it was two in the morning._

_Eileen Prince was waiting by the front door for her spouse, Tobias. She loved him despite him being a foolish drunk. That's why they had married. She opened up the door and embraced her husband, hugging him. What was unexpected was what happened next; Tobias punched her in the nose and proceeded to vomit on the floor. Severus who was eleven years old was awakened by the doorbell. He moved out of his bedroom to find that his father was beating up his mother. He was unsure of what to do so he punched Tobias in the face. The next moment he blacked out temporarily and his hands were chained to a pole in the basement with a piece of cloth in his mouth to prevent him from screaming out. "You worthless piece of shit," Tobias screamed, whipping his worthless spawn, Severus._

_The pain was the worst thing Severus had ever felt. That wasn't even an understatement. Sure all of his ribs had been broken at once but at least he wasn't profusely bleeding all over the floor. The pain felt like a bunch of muggle devices called bombs had exploded on his back and someone was forcefully ripping his skin apart. The tears burned in his eyes and Tobias Snape screamed, whopping Severus again, "How **dare** you punch me. You're just an inferior to me._

_The pain Severus had felt before was nothing compared to this. As the second blow came, Severus was seeing yellow stars against his blackened field of vision. He couldn't help it as a salty year trickled down his cheek. He silently resented himself for this, Tobias had taught him to not cry unless he wanted to be hurt even more. "You're so pathetic. It doesn't even hurt that much. Be a man! Don't cry!" Tobias screamed, whipping Severus again._

_Severus wanted to scream out but the piece of cloth in his mouth prevented that. The raw skin on his back was being reopened. His father must have heard his whimper, despite it being muffled by the cloth for Tobias whipped Severus repeatedly, long after his son had passed out._

_Severus woke up chained to a pole, but thankfully his father was gone. There was duct-tape over his mouth and the stiffness in his joints indicated that he had been asleep for at least two days. He was in a lot of pain and it hurt when he breathed. His ankle could barely hold his weight if he dared to stand up and worst of all, he was completely naked. He had slumped down onto the ground quite awhile ago and he now was sitting in a pool of his own blood. And his own piss. If his father saw him now, he would scream at the damage done to the basement floor._

_The pain was too much._

_Severus blacked out._

_The next time Severus awoke, he was in a brightly coloured room. As his eyelids fluttered open, he noticed that he was covered in a thin blanket. Though everything was blurry, Severus noticed that he was in a hospital room that was decorated for children. He was too old for this. Being abused made him grow up too quickly. He saw his mother's familiar gaunt face looking at him and she cried, her bloodshot obsidian eyes staring into his own, "I'm so sorry. Tobias said you were at Lily's but I checked and she said she hadn't seen you for a couple of days. I just thought that you wanted to escape and I could completely understand; your dad's a monster. I healed the welts myself and put a glamour charm on them; the nurses here couldn't make them disappear, muggle whips do that. You had a severely broken tibia, some of it being in an open fracture and your ankle was severely sprained. You had several broken ribs as well as a punctured lung and a hairline skull fracture. The nurses here at Lakeland Hospital were surprised to see you pull through."_

_His mother had clearly been crying for a long time and of course, Tobias was nowhere to be seen. He recognized the place as a muggle hospital. "Why don't you just leave him?" Severus asked._

_"I can't. If I did, he said that he would torture me until I died, then torture you and then commit suicide so he wouldn't be punished. I promise, I have a plan. Don't worry Sevvy. Oh and by the way, your fake name is Griffin Aldheart."_

_Severus looked at the name tag and read the name and the date of birth. It read,_

_Griffin Aldheart, May 27th, 1960._

**~End Of Flashback~**

Severus Snape didn't even realize he had been crying until Remus wiped a year from his eye. "I know Severus, it's hard. No father should ever do that to their child. Never. You don't deserve it. Would it make you feel better if I told you one of my secrets? It's a bad one," Remus comforted, tears nearly welling up in his own eyes.

Severus nodded and Remus opened his mouth before realizing what he was about to do. Quickly, the werewolf ran off to the dormitories and Severus understood why, already knowing Remus's secret. Remus was afraid Severus would tell everyone and stop being his friend.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you skipped over the last chapter, Severus had a flashback to past abuse and Remus nearly told Severus that he's a werewolf

Remus felt the tears welling up in his eyes.  _Don't cry you pathetic piece of shit,_  he thought to himself while running into his bed,  _if you tell Severus that you're a werewolf, he will hate you forever. Then he'll tell everyone else and you'll have no friends and be forced to leave Hogwarts. You already have no future Remus._

Unable to hold back the tears anymore, Remus pulled the curtains beside his bed so no one could see what he was about to do and he sobbed into his pillow. He had just ruined his entire life, he was such a baby.  _Werewolves aren't supposed to cry! You're only crying because you're pathetic. That's all you are. Pathetic._

The sobs wracked Remus's body and he was unable to control them. It felt so good to cry, to let all the pent up emotions be released. He pitied Severus but he couldn't take his new friends problems more than he could take his own. The schooling hadn't even started yet and Remus was already stressed out. He had been crying for about five minutes when a voice interrupted, "Are you okay? Remus?" Severus asked, worried about his newest best friend.

Remus lied, his voice muffled by the pillow, "I'm fine, I just have allergies."

"I heard you crying."

"I'm homesick. I miss my mother and father."

"Why didn't you say that?" Severus asked, opening up the curtains to reveal a very puffy eyed Remus. His eyes were red and a singular tear fell down his cheek. Severus pulled the werewolf into an extremely tight hug and conforted him, saying, "It's gonna be okay Remus. Now can you tell me whatever you were going to tell me earlier?"

Remus gulped, he knew he wasn't going to escape this. Had he decided to not answer, Severus would just keep pressing him until the breaking point. The werewolf buried his face into Severus's chest and sobbed, causing the pyjamas of the former teacher to become soaked in salty tears. Severus had been the former head of Slytherin and had the occasional student do this, whether it be the homesick first years or the abused second year.  _Just like Emily Samosa,_ Severus thought.

"Do you promise you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you Severus. I know I just met you today but there's something that makes me believe that I can trust you. When I saw the two black haired boys (James and Sirius,) I felt the opposite of that feeling. I felt that they would betray me the first chance they got," Remus whispered, despite the two being the only ones in the dormitories. He didn't want to take any chances and have someone he couldn't trust overhear this. That would be his one-way ticket out of Hogwarts. No one would want their child going to a place with a werewolf. No one wanted their child to possibly become afflicted with lycanthropy.

"I'd rather cut my fingers off and have someone force-feed them to me than betray you," Severus swore, his obsidian eyes showing an unseen sparkle in them. He already knew the secret of Remus but he wanted Remus to trust him. Severus had ruined the werewolf's career at Hogwarts. Before Remus taught at Hogwarts, it was clear that the werewolf had a hard life. His clothes were fairly shabby and the lycanthrope looked like he had been through multiple tough times. Severus had learned that the job was cursed but had he not told anyone, he may have been able to break the curse and end the poverty of the werewolf. Snape felt he needed to repay the poor fellow and this was the best way to do it.

"You ready?" Remus asked, tears welling up in his eyes. Severus had sounded completely serious when telling Remus that he would never betray Remus, but the werewolfs sense of trust was fairly weak. He had trusted the werewolf that had bitten him, up until Remus himself had been afflicted.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Severus replied back.

"I'm a werewolf," Remus revealed, burying his face into the pyjamas of Severus. All Severus could do was stroke his back and say, "Don't worry Remus, it's not your fault."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next morning the ramblings of the dormitory woke up Severus. He was surprised to find out he didn't have any nightmares but that was all to be expected. "Wake up Severus!" Remus yelled into the former teacher's ear.

Groaning, Severus sat up. If the werewolf had showed any signs of his emotional breakdown last night, the impulsiveness covered it all up. Severus grabbed a black robe out of his bag and slowly took off his pyjamas, first starting with his shirt. He covered up his bed with his curtain so he could change in peace while the werewolf changed in his bed.

Severus mentally cast a tempura spell and learned that it was seven in the morning. The fifth year male prefect, Noah Nabana would have woken him up by now. As it was, there was a knock on the door by the prefect. "Get up," Noah yelled.

Whoever hadn't stirred yet had woken up now. Severus had finished changing and was now brushing his teeth. Remus joined him and asked, "Are you excited for timetables? I know I am."

Severus nodded his head while he spat out the toothpaste into the sink.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Severus Snape had arrived at the Ravenclaw table with Remus when two owls came. There was a howler and a regular shaped letter. Groaning, he opened up the howler and wondered who it could be from.

"SNIVELLUS GREASY! HOW DARE YOU BREAK MY NOSE! I HATE YOU! YOU'RE JUST A STUPID SLYTHERI- I MEAN RAVENCLAW!" A voice yelled, one that sounded suspiciously like James Potter.

Another voice could be heard in the background of the Howler. While this voice was weaker, it caught Severus off-guard. "JAMES POTTER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT OF BED! CURFEW FOR FIRST YEARS WAS TWO HOURS AGO! WHY ARE YOU YELLING? I HATE TO DO THIS BUT TEN POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR! GET BACK IN YOUR DORMITORY MR. POTTER! I DON'T CARE IF YOU BROKE YOUR NOSE, YOU SHOULDN'T BE YELLING!" Professor McGonagall yelled in the howler.

The howler was abruptly cut off and it tore itself into halves, then quarters, then eighths, and it finally burst into flames. Remus and Severus started laughing uncontrollably at the failed attempt of a Howler. Clearly McGonagall had taken points off for the yelling, rather than the being out late as James had a broken nose. "That was funny, right Remus?" Severus laughed.

Remus was too busy holding in his fit of laughter to answer but judging by the look on Remus's face, Severus took it as a 'yes'.

At the Gryffindor table, Sirius was laughing at James for the failed Howler. "I just don't understand why it recorded McGonagall's voice. I thought I stopped it before then," James complained, his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

Ignoring the Potter boy, Severus looked at his other letter. It couldn't be as funny as the Howler but Severus opened it excitedly.

 _Congratulations Severus for being sorted into Ravenclaw. I always thought you would end up being sorted in Slytherin, but you proved me wrong Sevvy. That's okay, I know brains are completely important and I guess the sorting hat could see your high intelligence within you. Anyways I found a job as a waitress during the day while your father is out at work_. _I'm going to be opening up a secret Gringotts account from your father. If he knew about it, he would beat me up within a matter of minutes. By the end of the year, we will have enough money to move out. I know it won't buy us the best house but by moving out, my father will put me back into the Prince will._

_Stay strong, my darling._

_Eileen Prince._

Severus was so caught up in his mother's letter that he didn't notice that Remus was poking him repeatedly. "Severus, we got our timetables. Sadly we have Charms with the Gryffindors first thing with Flitwick but he's our head of house so he'll take care of things."

Severus groaned.


	7. Chapter 7

Juliette Aurum was having a tough morning. First, her roommate Allie Vaughn had stayed up a good portion of the night talking to another roommate, Jenna Friesen. Then she had woken up in the middle of the night because of aforementioned roommates snoring. After that, she was so excited to start the day that it took her at least an hour and a half to fall asleep. By the time she woke up, she was completely cranky and wanted no more than to strangle everyone within her field of vision.

Her day wasn't off to a great start, her shower was basically ice. Shivering, she got dressed and headed down to the great hall where Remus and Severus were laughing amongst themselves. Juliette was afraid, she thought that they were talking about her. Her mother had always said Juliette was quite a bit paranoid and Juliette agreed completely. Choosing to ignore them while rubbing her eyes, she sat down next to Remus and set her head down on the mahogany table, trying to get some last minute rest. Her arms were resting by her head, her elbows aligned with her ears. After two minutes of catnapping, she was "woken" up by a nuisance poking her shoulder, "Do I need to bring it to your attention that poking me is a great way to tarnish my content mood?" Juliette growled, closing her blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, I just thought you would like something to eat. I know I and Severus are hungry and we thought you would be too. Don't get mad at me," Remus said, patting the girl on the back. Her sky-blue eyes bore into his own and he could see the purple circles under her eyes. Juliette probably had a hard time sleeping. Remus had a rather pleasant sleep, having worn himself out with his crying.

"My stomach is telling that it's famished, yet I'm afraid to eat. The contents of my stomach will probably end up in a toilet bowl by the end of he day," Juliette mentioned, her empty stomach complaining in protest. As the rumbling of her stomach started again, this time louder, Juliette blushed in mortification knowing that she had to eat something or Remus would think she was sick. She grabbed a piece of toast drizzled lightly in butter and munched on it. She swallowed and asked, "Might I ask a question; what is our first class?"

Remus replied, sighing in disappointment, "Charms with the Gryffindors and then potions with Slytherin. After that it's double Herbology with Gryffindor."

Severus added, "Anyways, a guy from Gryffindor, his name is James, he sends me a Howler. But you know how you have to record your voice? Well James decided to record himself yelling at me and then was cut off by McGonagall because he was out past curfew and because he wasn't supposed to be yelling. Apparently Gryffindor has negative points right now."

"You caused a fracture in his nasal bone I believe last night," Juliette stated.

"Yeah."

"I'm very disappointed in myself for not being down here earlier."

Remus hugged her, patting her on the back while stating, "I mean it wasn't as hilarious but I have a feeling that James is going to get his own fair share of Howlers this year. He and Sirius, the boy with the curly hair are major troublemakers. Rumour has it that the duo set fire to the Head Boy's robes on the train yesterday.•

James was absolutely pissed off and mortified. The entirety of Gryffindor were laughing at him because of the failed Howler prank or resenting him because he was the reason that the house had negative ten points. He stared at Severus and noticed that a girl with brown curly hair had joined them. She looked absolutely exhausted like her night had been a complete and utter nightmare.

Sirius asked, "James are you in love?"

James swallowed, knowing damn well that he wasn't. Looking at the Ravenclaw table, he saw that Snivellus was enjoying the presence of the brown-haired girl. Before James went to Hogwarts, Mr. Potter, his father had taught him basic disarming spells. Potter had trained with these and was indeed looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Hey James, we have charms first with the Ravenclaws," Sirius said, a grin on his face, "Hey why don't we prank that girl. Do you know any spells that would work?"

James nodded and clearly said, "Expelliarmus."

Sirius nodded, the Black family had trained him in the dark arts. He was excited for Defense Against The Dark Arts- everyone was, and he knew he would excel in that class. "So we use expelliarmus on that girl at the same time?" Sirius asked?

"That's the plan," James replied.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The three Ravenclaws were headed to the charms classroom, running up a flight of stairs in a hurry when they realized that the door to the classroom was locked. They found it quite easy to get lost, even Severus couldn't remember all of the ways to get to each classroom, despite being a student himself previously. The staircases were always moving and the people within the portraits were always visiting each other. Juliette said, "I'll search for Professor Flitwick, you guys stay here, okay?" She fiddled with her bag that was charmed to hold anything without causing any excess weight to be put on to her shoulders and she ran off.

The two remaining boys nodded and Juliette ran down the hallway, not seeing the two black-haired boys smiling deviously at her. She recognized one as James. Keeping up her steady pace, Juliette ran until she reached the top of the stairs, slowing down when she heard the two boys mutter a curse. Her body was flung down the stairs and she screamed, her ankle shattering against the wooden stairs. A last ditch attempt to stop anymore damage, Juliette wto stuck her arm out to stop her fall but she also heard that break with a crack.  _Merlin help me,_  she thought to herself, the pain within her injured limbs making itself known. There was a dull, throbbing pain in her temple and it hurt for her to breathe.

A voice called out, "I hope you liked that! Hope you don't snitch, Wormy! I heard Dumbledore favours Gryffindors and so if he asks you what happens, I'll just deny it!"

James laughed, "She's just faking it, I've fallen down the stairs multiple times. She's probably just embarrassed. I would be too if I were casted down a flight of stairs."

Sirius nodded, wanting to help the girl but not being able to find it within him to leave James alone. Perhaps he would teach James the wrong of his ways before it was too late or before he killed someone. To him, the curly-haired girl looked to be in pain. He ran off to the dormitories with James to grab his stuff, pushing the girl to the back of his mind. After all, he didn't want to lose his house any points for being late.

Lily Evans passed the two smirking boys when she heard a faint whimper. She glared daggers at James who stuck his tongue out at her and continued up the flight of stairs. She saw a very-injured Juliette laying at the bottom, whimpering in pain.  _Oh crap, I don't know how to fix this. I have a feeling those two have something to do with this. They probably hexed her,_ Lily thought to herself.

Lily ran up the stairs, hoping to find Professor Flitwick but instead saw Severus and Remus who both looked extremely confused. "Guys, I'm going to need your help. That girl you were sitting with- she was hexed down the stair and appears to be very injured. Please can you guys help me? What is the girls name?" Lily asked, her voice raising an octave. She was nervous for the girl, she knew that her arm was laying out at an awkward angle. It ought to be broken.

"Her name is Juliette Aurum," Remus whimpered as his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as he heard this. Juliette was his best friend and he did not want her to be injured. Especially not now. It should have been him. A pool of guilt made itself known in Remus's stomach and he wanted to cry- he felt terrible. Being a werewolf, his emotions were always unstable, but he knew Severus was thinking the same thing.

Severus, who had been sitting down, immediately leapt to his feet. He knew that had it not been Juliette, it would have been him. The Marauders had never ceased prancing him for the first week of school. He had been hexed down a flight of stairs but unlike Juliette, he didn't get injured.

The three people ran to Juliette who was crying out in pain.  _She looks so helpless,_ Severus thought,  _that's probably what I look like after a big beating from my father. Merlin, she didn't deserve this. Why couldn't the duo hex me?_

Remus had grabbed onto the hand of Juliette. He was afraid that she was severely injured and that she wouldn't want to be his friend anymore because he hadn't gone with her. He felt worse than a piece of dog poo. Or werewolf poo. Merlin, the girl looked like she was in severe pain.

Lily whispered, looking at the two Ravenclaw boys, "I'll go find a staff member. I'm no healer but I think she needs to go to the hospital wing." She ran off into the candle-lit hallways, finally finding Professor McGonagall. She had run down five flights of stairs and was relieved to finally find a staff member. Especially her head of house.

"Hello Lily, don't you have a class in ten minutes?" Minerva asked, noticing the flushed cheeks of the Evans girl.

"I need your help. A student was hexed down the stairs. Oh, please come quick," Lily begged, running off to find Juliette. There was one problem- the stairways had moved. She was unable to find her way to the charms classroom. Lily felt the tears well up in her eyes, Professor McGonagall would be so upset with her. She had just tarnished her reputation with the transfiguration teacher. Lily looked into her teacher's eyes and noticed the confused look. "I'm so sorry, I think I'm lost. Can you take me to the Charms classroom? The students name is Juliette Aurum."

Minerva remembered the rather eager blue-eyes girl who was the first to be sorted last night. She nodded as she muttered, "Point me, Juliette Aurum." As she followed where the spell lead her, she wondered how badly was the student injured. Had it been a few scrapes, Minerva would give a harsh scolding to this Juliette girl, but Lily had said she had been hexed so it had to be serious. Right?

Finally they reached the girl. Minerva was shocked at the sight that awaited her- the girl was sprawled out beneath the landing of the stairs with her left leg an right arm both at unfamiliar angles. "I'll go floo-call Madame . Perhaps she'll be able to help," Minerva said as she walked off.

"Who did you think did this to her?" Lily asked, the tears threatening to spill out of her emerald eyes. She was upset that someone would do this to someone else but she knew of muggles that caused conflict with each other for nearly no reason. Like that Hitler guy that Lily had learned about in Primary school.

"James, he called me Wormy," Juliette whimpered, finding it even harder to breathe. She ached everywhere and her vision was beginning to blur. She wanted to close her eyes but someone was holding them open, telling her not to go to sleep; she could have a serious brain injury. It took her awhile but she realized that it was Severus who was telling her not to sleep, his silky voice ringing in her ears. Juliette couldn't take it anymore and eventually closed her eyes, allowing slumber to completely control her.

Severus was completely pissed, not only had the duo called her Wormy, (obviously due to her bookish nature) but they had also hexed her. He was extremely worried that the girl had fallen asleep. He knew the signs of a concussion when he saw them, this girl had multiple signs, two different sized pupils, loss of consciousness, etc. Severus could only hope that Juliette Aurum was okay and wouldn't suffer any long-lasting impact due to the duo.


	8. Chapter 8

A week after the attack, Juliette Aurum was having a tough time getting around Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey had been able to heal most of her wounds but the nurse couldn't mend the ligaments that had snapped during the fall. This resulted in Juliette having to use crutches which made getting around even harder after considering the fact that the stairs were constantly moving around. They had to be mended the muggle way.

James and Sirius had resorted to less physical pranks after receiving a Howler from Madame Pomfrey about how they should not use disarming spells in the middle of the hallways. Severus, Remus, Lily, and Minerva provided their testimony to Dumbledore, yet Dumbledore thought it was "accidental magic" and "James and Sirius wouldn't hurt a fly".

The four eleven year-olds; Lily, Juliette, Remus, and Severus were regarded as the smartest people in each of their subjects. Severus was getting bored in his classes easily; he remembered most of the stuff from his previous life.

Finally it was Saturday and Severus was in the Ravenclaw common room, his nose in a book about potions. He growled, most of the potions in this textbook was completely wrong. Perhaps Severus could get rich on his own potions book, after all who wouldn't want to buy a potions book from an eleven year old Potions Master. Juliette was sitting next to him, reading a muggle book on biology. Juliette was completely fascinated by muggle sciences and though most of the concepts were too complicated for her to understand, she enjoyed acquiring the newfound knowledge.

"I can't believe that they would stir this clockwise! Clearly every sixth turn needs to be counterclockwise. This is why this potion almost never works out!" Severus yelled, clearly pissed off at the idiocy of the book.

Juliette nodded, completely absorbed in a paragraph about human respiration. The sun was beginning to set and her stomach was rumbling. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she noticed that it was seven o'clock. She asked Severus, "My stomach is growling in protest because I have not eaten anything. Perhaps could we go get something for it to digest?"

"Right now. This potions textbook is angering me," Severus growled, realizing how hungry he was.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Remus Lupin was feeling absolutely terrible. He had been feeling completely ill for three days, knowing the full moon was approaching. All of his senses were heightened and his emotions were completely uncontrollable. He nearly cried in the middle of transfiguration because he couldn't transform a toothpick into a needle. He could tell that this full moon was going to be a terrible one. The wolf inside him wanted to maul itself for not finding human blood.

Tonight was the night of the full moon and Remus was nervous. Severus knew his secret and swore not to tell anyone but Remus himself was still scared.

He made his way down out of the Ravenclaw common room. He waited for Professor McGonagall who would escort him to the shrieking shack. It would be a lie if he said he wasn't nervous. Despite knowing deep inside that he would be locked inside the shack, he was still afraid; what if he escaped? What if he bit someone? He would be executed by the ministry. He would be ostracized.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Remus was taken aback by the appearance of the shrieking shack. It was  _flawless._  Of course the journey had been hard, he was exhausted and his muscles wanted to give up halfway through. He persevered, had he stayed in the dormitories, he might have bit Severus. That would have been terrible. Absolutely terrible.

Remus had qualms about transforming here. He silently stripped his clothes off- at home he would leave them where the wolf wouldn't be able to find them (the wolf inside him would destroy them because they smelled like human). Off came his cloak, his shirt, his trousers and then his briefs. He stood in what appeared to be the master bedroom, looking for a lockable cabinet to store his clothes in. He'd be damned to have a professor see him naked, let alone his peers.

Shivering from the sudden cold, Remus realized how hard this was going to be. At home while he prowled in the basement, his mother would always offer reassuring comfort- she'd tell him that he wasn't the monster the wolf was. That alone made the transformations decrease in pain.

Remus looked out the window and saw the moon peek out from between the clouds. It was about ten in the evening and as the first spasm hit his body, he screamed. His bones snapped, lengthened, and shrunk, causing the pain to magnify. It was terrible- the pain was worse than laying on a bed of nails (not that Remus had tried that) and Remus kept on screaming. Finally the wolf took over and found a small human scent. It smelled like fear. If wolves could smile, that's what Remus would be doing.

The wolf found the clothes that Remus had hidden away. With a last burst of consciousness, Remus tried to stop the wolf but it was no use- his clothes were destroyed.

That's when all hell broke loose for the werewolf.


	9. Chapter 9

Remus Lupin woke up in the shrieking shack completely naked. His mind wandered to the previous night and he nearly screamed when he remembered that the wolf had shredded his clothes. Looking around, he saw the blood on the walls and the shreds of his clothes. Lifting up his head slowly, Remus assessed the damage. He had a deep gash on his stomach and it was bleeding rapidly. There were several teeth marks on his arm and at one point, Remus was sure that the wolf tried to eat his leg. He put his head back down onto the ground since it was slowly beginning to pound. He hadn't had a transformation this bad since his first and all he could do was wait for Madame Pomfrey. That and try not to vomit.

Remus barely turned his head over before his stomach decided to empty out whatever was left in it. He sputtered and coughed, whimpering. A tear rolled down his cheek and he stared at the yellow walls which were stained with crimson.  _If it hadn't been for me, someone could have lived here,_ Remus thought to himself,  _This perfectly beautiful place wouldn't have been wasted on a worthless werewolf like me. I'm pathetic. No one loves me._  Finally the convulsions stopped and Remus rolled onto his stomach, hoping to apply pressure to the extremely painful wound. The last thing he knew before he passe out was that he was certain that he was going to die. At least he would be at peace

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Juliette Aurum had just recieved a letter from Remus, unknowing that it was sent last night and all the things within it were a lie. She was eating breakfast with Severus in the Great Hall and had just began picking at a pancake while a tawny owl with Amber eyes brought her a letter. She opened it up and it read;

_Juliette_

_I'm sorry to announce that I may be absent from school for an undefined amount of time. My mother has recently contracted Dragon Pox and she's really ill. I flooed home to visit her as Dragon Pox can be very fatal in people over fifteen years of age. I had it when I was seven and once you have it, you become immune. I hope you understand._

_Remus Lupin._

Juliette felt her heart pound and the edges of her vision begin to blur. Remus helped her out quite a bit, helping her get to class, carrying her books or whatever she needed. Juliette payed him back by studying with him. If his mother was ill, it would certainly take a toll on Remus, that was for sure. The poor boy was extremely protective of her this week, he nearly punched someone in the face for looking like they were going to punch her. Of course, that one person was James.

Severus didn't see Remus at the table immediately but then he remembered that it was the full moon. A couple of nights ago he recalled that Remus said that after the full moon, the wolf inside him would attack Remus, causing a bunch of severe wounds. Remus had entrusted Severus with this information and Severus wouldn't tell a soul. Never. Juliette told him in a solemn voice, "I recieved a letter from Messer Remus. He wrote that his mother was suffering from a severe ailment and he needed to visit her. He appeared to have no qualms about it. He's quite wise though, just like you."

Severus nodded his head as he thought,  _Last night must have been the full moon. He had told me that. He wasn't in the dorms last night and he's probably in the hospital wing recovering. I can't tell Juliette though, I'll have to make up a lie. Perhaps I'll say that I had detention but she won't believe that, I'm too good of a kid for that. I'll ask Lily to hang out with her- wait that means I'll have to tell Lily Remus's secret. Can I even trust Lily? I accidentally called her a mudblood in my previous life, I hope I don't make the same mistake again. I'll just tell Juliette I have a stomachache and I'll go to the hospital wing to see Remus._ "Pondering on life? Severus, you haven't reacted to the lack of Remus's presence." Juliette interrupted Severus's thinking with her silky voice.

"I'm just feeling somewhat out of it," Severus lied, "I woke up today with a terrible stomachache and I'm not sure what to do." He feigned twinning his stomach as if he were going to vomit. The expression on the girls face told him that she believed his lie and didn't know Remus's secret.

"I can relate to you. Just get a potion- it may taste unpleasant- from Madame Pomfrey. When I was injured, her care was second-to-none, she always got me what I needed. The potion will settle your stomach."

OOOOOOOOO

Remus Lupin heard footsteps and thanked Merlin silently. He was beginning to feel completely light-headed as his blood drained from him. He looked out the window and noticed that the sun was just beginning to rise. Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall both looked at him with pity in their eyes. They covered him up with a black blanket and both of them picked him up. All Remus could do was try not to pass out as they apparated close to Hogwarts. Remus's stomach did not agree with this and he whimpered, "I'm gonna vomit."

The both of them let him go and the heaves wracked the poor werewolfs body as he emptied his stomach- which was mostly acid at this point- onto the ground. He whimpered in pain. The pain was unbearable. He passed out.

Remus woke up the second time to Severus's onyx eyes boring into his own peridot coloured. "You look like you've seen better days," Severus commented.

"You don't say. Last night was particularly painfulI ended up shredding my change of clothes and ended up being brought here naked. Talk about mortifying," Remus gasped in a hoarse voice. He was wearing a flimsy blue hospital gown and he probably had black circles underneath his eyes. If he got out of here and a muggle saw him in the street, they would think he was insane.

Severus cringed at that thought and said, "Anyways I would stay longer but Juliette is expecting me. I told her I was getting a stomach soother."

"Stay Severus, please."

"I can't"

"Without you, I'll be lonely."

Severus didn't hear the last part as he left the hospital wing. He felt terribly guilty for leaving his friend there. In his previous life as he was dying, Harry had shown compassion and had stayed with him as he died. He had given Harry his memories. Hopefully that would tell Harry that his cranky old potions teacher was on the good side all along.

Severus knew what it was like to be alone. After he had accidentally called his best friend a mudblood he had no friends. The people in Slytherin, the future Death Eaters hated him for being friends with Lily. The marauders constantly bullied him. Tobias abused him. Dumbledore ignored him. Severus was under appreciated. He was misunderstood. If he had been treated better...chances are he would never have become a Death Eater.

With this knowledge, Severus Snape ran back to the hospital wing to be with his best friend.


	10. Chapter 10

The bonds between the three Ravenclaws had been growing stronger as the early November weather was growing colder. Severus Snape was regarded as one of the smartest people in his year with Juliette and Remus not too far behind. The three of them were well-liked by their teachers, especially because those specific teachers didn't have to deal with three more dunderheads, specifically Potter and Black. Severus had to admit, he was repulsed by the sight of the former Marauders- he hated the thought of James and Lily doing it together. The very thought of the two of them having sex made him want to use a muggle chemical called bleach and drink it.  _This time will be different. Lily will be mine,_  Severus thought to himself with a hopeful smile on his face.

The three of them were currently in the library, scouring the pages of a book on muggle chemistry. Severus himself had noticed a similarity between chemistry and potions and the two of them were interrelated.  _Maybe if things don't go as planned and I become a teacher again, I can use some of the techniques described in this book within my teachings._

Juliette was looking at the book with Severus, intrigued by the chemical reactions that the muggles came up with. Back at home her Primary school taught her things that were quite dull and too easy to understand. Her teachers thought she was unintelligent, little did they know that the young girl craved more knowledge of unorthodox subjects. In class, she often volunteered paradoxical answers, answers that juxtaposed each other. Her teachers noticed that she had a tendency to look on both sides of an argument.

Remus Lupin was quite tired. The full moon was coming up and it was evident in his face; there were dark circles under his eyes and he was paler than normal. He felt sluggish and wanted to rest constantly, but had to focus on his studies. He bitterly hated Fenrir Greyback for inflicting the wolf within him, the one Remus had no control over. Severus knew his secret, but Remus could trust the greasy-haired boy- Severus had trusted Remus with one of his own secrets.

Remus yawned and stretched his arms up high, his sandy hair falling into his face. He wanted nothing more than to curl up and go back to sleep, but that wasn't an option. He needed to focus on his studies, besides it was a Friday. Tomorrow would be the full moon and since tomorrow would be a Saturday, he would be able to sleep through the day and through Sunday as well. Then by Monday, he would be fully recovered and well enough to go back to school. All he had to do was get through his final afternoon class, potions with the Gryffindors.

Professor Slughorn had taken an immediate liking to the three Ravenclaws, each of them being a possible potions prodigy. Little did he know that Severus was a potions master in his future and had taken over Slughorns teaching position. He had retired early, leaving the position open to potential contenders. Severus had originally applied for the Defense Against The Dark Arts position, (but that was cursed ever since Dumbledore denied Tom Riddle the possibility of being the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher) but he didn't get it, rather getting the spot of the Potions teacher. That left him regarded as the greasy bat of the dungeons and the least favourite teacher of many students. This time, would he get the same job, he wouldn't be the head of Slytherin as it was rare for the head of house to have been sorted into a different house themselves. In fact, Severus couldn't think of when it had ever happened.

Severus silently casted a  _Tempus_ spell which told him that they had ten minutes before potions. He wanted to be early, perhaps he could teach Slughorn a few ways to fix the potions in the outdated book. "Ten minutes before class," the black haired boy muttered, pushing a clump of his over-chin-length-hair behind his ear.

Remus's head was beginning to pound and he began to feel nauseous. Sometimes before a transformation, he would get extremely sick, sick to the point where he could barely do anything. All he wanted to do was go to the hospital wing. His mind began searching for an adequate lie to tell the two Ravenclaws. Or more specifically, Juliette. He had told Severus his secret the first night at Hogwarts, not knowing that the greasy-haired boy was from the future and already knew of his lycanthropy. He also didn't know how he was originally sorted into Gryffindor and became friends with Potter, Black, and the traitor, Pettigrew. "I'm not feeling well. I think I ate too much at lunch. I'm going to the hospital wing," Remus groaned, obviously in a lot of pain.

Severus raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything. He knew that tomorrow was the full moon and that werewolves tended to be in a lot of pain the day of and the day before a transformation. He declared, "I'm coming with you."

Juliette added, "I may as well come. You look haggard and I would favour coming with you to make sure you make it to the Hospital wing. The ligaments in my ankle finally have strengthened enough for me to walk on, but the two black-haired boys could easily do something horrible to you. I want to come along to make sure that they don't."

"No, don't. I'm okay. Besides, you guys have class in ten minutes and I don't want you to be late," Remus stated.

"Unpunctuality is more admirable than you being bullied," Juliette stated.

"I'm fine!" Remus yelled.

Madame Pince was beginning to stare at the trio, sending them extremely dirty looks and Remus took that as the cue to run off to the Hospital Wing. His stomach churned and his head pounded, causing him to become dizzy. He forced himself to keep going forward, wanting to make it to the Hospital Wing. He had not felt this terrible in ages and wanted relief from the terrible sickness that plagued him. The wolf within him was nothing more than insane. He willed himself to keep going forward, to keep taking steps even though it hurt his ankles. Remus forced himself to run up the moving staircases, convincing himself that it would make him get to the hospital wing.

He finally pushed through the large doors, the familiar antiseptic fumes wafting to his nose. Madame Pomfrey was busy tending to a third-year Hufflepuff who looked like he was covered in purple pustules. Madame Pomfrey looked at the doors and saw the poor werewolf look like he was about to faint. Casting a stasis charm on the Hufflepuff- his condition wouldn't be able to get any worse than it already was- and rushed to the werewolf as he fainted. She barely managed to slow his fall down with a quick  _Wingardium Leviosa_ charm so he wouldn't injure himself falling down. The poor child groaned and she noticed the pale circles under his eyes. She picked him up, surprised at his minimal weight and carried him to a bed where she began to fuss over him.

* * *

As soon as Remus left the room, Juliette had an intrigued look on her face. She was beginning to suspect something and needed the confirmation of Severus. Every month, Remus would get sick around the full moon, causing her to suspect lycanthropy. Juliette honestly wouldn't care about her friend being cursed. She would support him no matter what. "Is Remus a werewolf?" Juliette blurted out, putting her hand over her mouth after she said it. She couldn't believe herself.

"Why would you ask that?" replied Severus who was reading a paragraph on stoichiometry and molar mass. He knew that Juliette would begin to suspect Remus but not until third year. He had seriously underestimated the girl.

"He usually looks pale with dark circles under his eyes, he gets sick around the full moon and I have yet to see him in the common room during a full moon." stated the eleven year old girl. If the nodding of Severus meant anything, it signalled that indeed, Remus is a werewolf.

At that moment, all the pieces began to fall into place and Juliette understood why her friend was sick.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of abuse.

"Hey Severus," Juliette spoke in a soft tone after realizing that Remus was a werewolf. "Greasy hair emits a disgusting odour. Perhaps if you tried shampoo, your hair would look a lot cleaner, perhaps maybe the Gryffindor's wouldn't bully you because of it. You know, this is just a suggestion, although you don't have to carry through with it."

"I don't really get a chance too," Severus said, casting a silent muffliato. "I'm too scared to stay in the showers for too long. If I stay in the showers for too long, someone will notice the scars."

Damn him! He didn't mean to blurt that out. He was sure Juliette would tell someone his secret and people would judge him for it or he would be made fun of for not being able to stand up for himself when his father beat him up. He was going to say something else but the words were forced out of his mouth as if he had no control over them.

"What scars, Severus? Is there something you're not telling me?" Juliette asked, her voice raising an octave. She was afraid for her friend, scars were never a good thing. He could have gotten them from an accident, but in that case, he wouldn't be afraid of other people seeing them. In fact, they would have had to have been caused by something scary, something beyond ominous.

"My father abuses me. The scars are from when he whipped me with an actual whip and left me tied to a pole, surrounded in my own bodily functions. For two days, I laid in my own blood, hoping for someone to save me from my own father. That's when I realized that I would never refer to him as my father ever again. No father should ever do that to their child. No child should ever fear their own father. A father should be a role model, not someone that uses their own child as a punching bag," Severus blurted out before he could stop himself. What was going on? He didn't have any control over what he was saying anymore.

"Your father abuses you?" Juliette shrieked, in shock that one of her best friends was going through something as terrible as abuse at such a young age. No wonder he always looked so scared at the smallest things. Through subtle, the hints were there and if you knew where to look, someone would be able to find the hints. The black-haired boy appeared paranoid around adult men and would flinch every time someone came near him.

Severus nodded, beginning to cry, "The time he whipped me was the worst. Despite passing out and not being able to feel the pain while unconscious, I wouldn't have been able to fight him off. Usually if I mutter something that sounds like nonsense, he'll hopefully think it's a magical spell and back off. He hates magic and he hates my mother."

What was going on with him? He wasn't able to control his emotions now. He had trained himself not to cry in front of anyone and yet this school year, he had broken that personal rule thrice. He was too hardened from his past life too even feel powerful emotions. He didn't think he was capable of crying anymore and yet this year, that had been proven wrong.

Juliette could see the distress in his eyes and removed the muffliato spell, muttering, "We should probably go back to the Ravenclaw common room. We can talk about it there. You need someone to help you with this." She put her arm around Snape and began to take him out of the library when she saw two familiar boys. Sighing, she pulled out her wand.

"Hey Wormy and Snivellus. Wormy, is Snivellus so greasy that he's making the floors so greasy with his greasiness that he can't walk on them normally. He needs a girl to do his walking for him." James yelled, snickering at the two Ravenclaws.

"Shut up James. At least I can actually get a girl I like to carry me," Severus whimpered, still crying.

"Huh," muttered James. His voice grew louder as he yelled, "Looks like Snivellus can't even handle us without crying."

"Leave him alone," Lily Evans yelled as she approached the four of them, "Severus is clearly in pain, you don't need to accentuate that. Now if you don't leave him alone, I will hex you into next week. Don't think that I won't, James."

"Lily, you look so cute when you're angry," James snickered, "Also why does Snivellus need a girl to stand up for him."

Severus pulled his wand out and began to mutter something, he wanted to cause James as much pain as possible. That's all he wanted. James hadn't changed at all in this timeline and was still as arrogant as ever. "Stop it, Severus, they just want to upset you. Let's go back," Juliette screeched, not wanting anyone to get into trouble. She hated seeing others in trouble and today was no exception.

Severus nodded and Juliette and Lily were heading back to the Ravenclaw common room. Students of other houses were allowed in each other's common room, given that they had permission from another student of that house. Juliette slumped down onto a sofa and Lily sat next to her, Severus sat on the other side of the room, preferring to sit on a small chair. "Why are you crying Severus?" Lily asked, oblivious to the conversation that the two Ravenclaws had in the library.

Severus, once again casting the silencing charm, spoke weakly, "Before I went to Hogwarts, my father would abuse me. Thankfully not sexually, but the physical and emotional abuse were terrible enough. Don't tell anyone, if anyone found out, my father would kill my mother."

"I didn't know that!" Lily exclaimed, her mouth forming an "O".

"Please. My mom is leaving him soon." Severus said.

"How?"

"She got a job secretly."

"I see. You alway should feel free to stay at my house, should things get terrible at your house. Promise me that if things get extremely bad, you'll come over."

"I promise."


	12. Chapter 12

Christmas break was fast approaching and the friendship between Remus, Severus and Juliette was growing stronger with each passing day. The three of them were often never seen without one another and often Lily would join them as well. Juliette was beginning to hint to Remus that she knew his secret. She knew it was wise to keep her mouth shut.

On one particular evening, eating dinner in the great hall, Remus got a letter. He had been expecting it for a long time but hadn't realized it was going to happen. As he opened the envelope, labelled, Remus J. Lupin, a terrible feeling welled up in his heart. He was too afraid to finish opening it as he already knew what lay inside the paper. Severus noticed this and asked, "Remus, what's wrong?"

"I don't want to open up this letter, I already know what's in it," Remus replied, the dark circles under his eyes more prominent than ever. His grandmother had been sick for a long time and he knew that she had been getting worse lately, rather than getting better. Chances are, this letter was probably informing the werewolf that his beloved grandmother had died.

"What's in it, Remus?" Severus asked, wanting to know what was bothering his friend. He had to admit, he was beginning to grow attached to the werewolf and couldn't stand the thought of the werewolf being sad. He wanted the werewolf to be okay. Had the werewolf not been a Marauder, the two of them would have been close. The former Marauder had no interest in bullying him and would have spoken up, had he not been afraid to lose his only friends.

Juliette, on the other hand, was a different story. Severus had not gotten to know the girl at all the first time around. He did know that the girl had become a healer and a member of  _The Order of the Phoenix_ and he was pretty sure that she had been killed in the first war. He hadn't heard much about her for a little while and she wasn't a part of the second Order. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure he had attended her funeral. She had been pregnant when she'd died, having been engaged with a Hufflepuff boy named Tyler Faulkerson, who had also died in the first war.

Severus already knew that he regretted being a death eater, but the more that he thought about the families that had been torn apart by the war, the more it caused his heart to break. He never expected it to be hard being a spy death eater, but it was exhausting. He was hit by the cruciatus curse so many times- every time that he had been hit by it, he couldn't stop thinking about Harry. How he had risked so much to protect the son of the girl he loved. How Harry had been the son of his tormentor, the tormentor that had made his life a living hell at Hogwarts.

"I don't want to talk about it." Remus admitted. He didn't think Severus would understand this at all. His father was abusive and his mother was alive. Severus had told Remus how his mother's parent had disowned her for marrying a muggle.

Back in Severus's first year in his first life, he had found a teary-eyed Remus Lupin sitting in the library, having escaped from the three other Marauders. Remus had just learned that his grandmother had passed away. He had felt betrayed, his grandmother had been getting better. She was even able to breathe without the help of a muggle machine. Yet, she had taken a turn for the worst and before Remus had the chance to visit her, his grandmother had died. That had made Remus extremely upset, for he had gotten into a fight with his grandmother the last time he had seen her and she was healthy. In retrospect, the more that he thought about it, the worse he had felt.

"Please Remus. It will make you feel better." Severus coaxed, already knowing what the werewolf was upset about. He knew about his grandmother, but he didn't know the full story.

"No!" Remus yelled, accidentally elbowing his goblet of pumkin juice and spilling it all over the table. He ran out of the Great Hall, the letter clenched in his right hand. A single tear spilled out of his eye as he ran up to the Ravenclaw common room. He was  _not_ going to cry in front of Juliette. He was  _not_ going to embarass himself like that. She was a girl and they tended to be vicious creatures, tearing apart people verbally. He didn't want her to gossip about him.

He ran up a staircase when he ended up tripping. The full moon would be in five days and he found that in the days before the full moon, he got extremely clumsy. He whimpered in pain as he banged his knee on one of the steps. He sat down for a minute before realizing why he was running away in the first place. He burst into tears, mostly in frustration and continued running up the stairs and eventually reached the Ravenclaw common room, answered the riddle and found himself in the Ravenclaw Common Room. As he entered, the people within the room sent him a curious glance. The Prefect, Caitlyn Matthews, asked, "Remus, are you okay. Is there anything you want to talk about."

Remus shook his head as he ran up into his dormitory. Grasping onto the brass handle, he opened up the door. Once he had walked through the door, he had slammed it, sobbing so hard he could barely control himself. He leaped into his bed, sobbing into his pillow.

Severus whispered to Juliette, "I'm going to see if he's okay." and then he ran off. He knew where Remus would go at a time like this and he took off towards the library. He headed inside and looked into the familiar stern face of Madame Pince. Severus knew better than to anger the librarian, a choice that would likely lead to his death. Looking around the library in search for a familiar caramel-haired werewolf, Severus thought to himself,  _This is weird. Remus was here in my previous life. Why isn't he here now? Where is he? What if he ran outside and tried to kill himself? No, I'm overthinking things. Remus is eleven, he can't have suicidal thoughts already. Who am I kidding? I wanted to die when I was eleven. But Remus comes from a nice family, a non-abusive one. He even told that to me himself._

Before he knew it, Severus found himself calling for the werewolf. "Remus," he called, not realizing that a particular stern-faced woman was listening to everything that he said. Remembering that Madame Pince hated anyone talking in the library, Severus stopped talking, but the damage had been done.

"Be quiet. You should know better. You're in here constantly," Madame Pince shrieked, carrying Severus by the collar on his shirt. Cursing himself silently, Severus began to brainstorm where Remus was. He felt his body being thrown onto the door and the black-haired boy heard the door slam. Severus began heading outside, sticking to the shadows when he heard;

"...Did you see Remus. He left dinner nearly crying." A familiar voice laughed. Severus, realizing that this was James, wanted to flee, but his eleven year-old legs were practically glued to the floor. He had forgotten about finding Remus now. All he wanted to do was get out of this hell.

"What a crybaby. He should be fed bottles and be put into nappies," Sirius laughed as well. Severus held his breath, hoping that the Marauders couldn't see him, but he realized that he couldn't see them.

"Leave him alone! What did he ever do to you?" Severus asked, the words slipping out of his mouth. He had forgotten about the invisibility cloak!

"Snivellus. I knew you were here. Hey James, lets have some fun with ol' Snivelly here, eh?" Sirius said, beckoning his friend to come over. The two Marauders took off the cloak, revealing two menacing pre-teen males.

Severus desperately wished anyone would show up. _Anyone._ This wasn't going to be good. He was outnumbered two to one and the Marauders had the size advantage. He wasn't paying attention as the Marauders cast a charm to tie his arms together and then another charm to tie his legs together. He assumed it was Sirius who had casted these charms, his family had trained him in dark magic, since he was a Black. Then again, Potter had always seemed sketchy to him, being friends with Black. After all, Sirius could have taught James those charms.

As the first punch hit his body, Severus screamed. It reminded him of his father tying him up that one time..."Please don't hurt me." Severus begged.

Obviously his pleading wasn't doing anything as he was punched once more by the two Gryffindors. His wand was five feet away from him. If only he could do wandless magic. He tried focusing, yet his eleven year old magic was not mature enough to summon his wand. He was unable to get the wand that was so far away from him.

"Look at little Snivelly. He's about to cry. Poor little thing." James fake-whimpered, feigning sympathy.

Severus realized that there were tears welling up in his eyes. He was about to start crying in front of the two Marauders. How mortifying. They would never let him live this down. Nor would any Slytherin. But this reminded him so much of his father's treatment of him. He couldn't control his eleven year-old emotions as he literally started bawling from the pain. This was pure torture! He was being abused at home and now at his one safe haven?

Dumbledore was walking down the hallways to visit Hagrid (he didn't care that it was after dinner) as he saw his two golden-boy Gryffindors picking on a greasy Ravenclaw. Yet, he couldn't deny, the Ravenclaw looked like he was in a lot of pain. The boy was crying! It didn't look like it hurt that much, but the Ravenclaw looked like he was in a lot of emotional turmoil. "What do you think you're doing?" Dumbledore asked.

"He started picking on us! He used the imperius curse on us and made us do this to him." Sirius replied.

"Your family specializes in dark magic, Sirius. If anything, it looks like you're doing this to Severus on purpose."

"So what. I've already proved that I'm not like my family."

"Leave him alone, Sirius and James. Fifty points from Gryffindor. Each. Severus, if they bully you again, I want you to talk to me immediately," Dumbledore said, using wandless magic to do a spell that untied the ropes from his wrists.

* * *

Severus had been flooed to the Ravenclaw Common Room. He had gone up to the headmasters office, where the old man incessantly asked him if he wanted a lemon drop. Severus denied of course, those candies always made his tongue hurt. They were just too sour and Severus could not understand why the old man loved them so much. They had talked about the bullying for a bit. The headmaster had healed Severus and sent him on his way.

While Severus headed up to the dormitories, he just remembered he had been looking for Remus. Too tired to care, he walked into the dormitory where the werewolf was sitting on his bed, reading a textbook. His face was all swollen from crying and there were dried tears on his cheeks. "What's wrong," asked Severus.

"I'll tell you in the morning." Remus replied.

"I've been looking for you all evening."

"Really?"

"I thought you would be in the library."

"That's too public."

Severus laid down on his bed and pulled the covers over his slight frame. Before he could manage to pull his shoes off, he fell asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

The next day, Severus awoke to the prying eyes of Remus Lupin. The werewolf was staring at him, wanting some attention or affection. Perhaps he would be able to make the wolfsbane potion, but that would require special ingredients, ones that First Years didn't have access to. Severus wasn't even the normal first year, he was thirty-eight! He would order some by owl, but that would cost money and that was something that his family didn't have very much of. The only thing he could keep on doing was making Slughorn trust him, allowing him to use the more expensive ingredients that Advanced Potions students had access to.

Remembering the conversation that took place the previous night, the neutral look on Severus's face turned into a frown. The prying eyes of Remus Lupin were slightly clouded with unshed tears. Severus remembered that Remus's grandmother had died around this time the first time around and the death had broken the poor werewolf. "Remus, just tell me. I'll tell you why I wasn't here earlier."

Remus wiped his left eye with the sleeve of his pyjamas. He didn't have to look into a mirror to notice how puffy his face was from crying all night. Being a lycanthrope messed with his already-fragile emotions, meaning he was a lot more emotional than he should be. Fresh tears spilled out of his eyes, meaning Remus couldn't handle his emotions at all anymore. "My Grandmother was facing a degenerative disease. We tried experimental potions and they wouldn't help her at all. They made her worse. At the beginning of this year, she wouldn't even recognize me anymore. The last time I had seen her, we had gotten into a fight. In retrospect, the thing that we got into a fight over was extremely stupid. I never said  _I love you_ when I left. I can't stop thinking about how different things could have been." Remus whimpered, crying.

"I understand that the death of a person can be hard for some, especially when they don't recognize who you are anymore. It's extremely hard for most people," replied Severus in a soft-spoken tone, "Last night, James and Sirius- I mean Potter and Black decided to attack me. They tied me up, kicked me, and basically wanted to hurt me until Dumbledore came around. He told me to come to him when they bullied me and he also took one hundred points from Gryffindor."

The last part was especially shocking for Severus, for in his previous life, Dumbledore had been especially biased towards Gryffindor. There was proof in that when he basically stole the house cup from Slytherin in Harry's first year. Sure, Potter's spawn had found the Philosophers stone, but that shouldn't have been a reason for Dumbledore to steal the house cup from his house. Another reason Dumbledore clearly favoured Gryffindor was when he didn't do anything for him during the werewolf prank, instead excusing it as teenage pranks. It was hard enough, for Slytherin was already prejudiced as the most evil house, meaning they were the most hated house. Winning the house cup was a way for his students to improve their self-esteem and feel better about themselves, something that was rare for every Slytherin.

"We have potions first thing, are you ready for it? Are you okay to go?" I asked Remus, knowing that if a single tear fell into the potion, it could cause the potion to not work, or even worse, blow up.

"Yeah, I guess." He replied with a saddened look upon his face.

* * *

Juliette was waiting for us at the Ravenclaw table. As usual, her nose was stuck in a book. Her curly hair looked rather frizzy and she had dark circles under her eyes. The book she was reading was on lycanthropy, "Salutations, was your slumber excellent?" she asked, the slightly worried look on her face fading. She closed her book and took a bite out of her cereal. She had been worried about Remus, for he had left the table the previous night in tears. She had hardly been able to sleep, Juliette was so anxious about her friend being okay.

"Not really, I kept on thinking about my Grandmother and how she died a few days ago," Remus admitted, more tears spilling out of his red eyes.

"Remus, recieving your friends support through these things is an important aspect to getting through them. Telling us is especially important so that we won't accidentally worsen your mood through the things we say." Juliette muttered, wishing her friend would have told her the previous night when he had ran from the table. She had been up all night worrying about him, hoping that he would be okay.

"Juliette, I was afraid that you would make fun of me for being emotional. Most girls do that, I've had my fair share of that. It's a stereotype for boys not being able to cry," Remus admitted, finally realizing that Juliette would have helped him through this. Had she known, she would have given Remus a hug and then would have given him some advice on how to get through this.

"So, I'm nothing more than a regular girl to you, am I?"

"That's not what I meant!"

Juliette couldn't help the anger that rose up inside her. Perhaps, she was being irate, but for now, she allowed it to build up inside. Remus thought of her as just a regular person, he thought that she would make fun of him. Juliette was not that type of girl; she would always help her friends through things, rather than berate them for it. Not considering anything that was going on around her, she yelled, "Remus, you're so blunt to think that I would ever make fun of you. You're one of my best friends here, but if you're too afraid to admit anything to me, then fine! I won't be your friend anymore!"

Remus was unable to stop the words as they slipped out of his mouth. "I never wanted to be your friend anyways." Remus yelled, covering his mouth up with his hand. He regretted what he said, the words just slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them. Juliette grabbed her book, the tears welling up in her eyes. She ran off into the potions classroom.

"Now I've really messed things up, Severus. She's never going to be my friend ever again," Remus cried, putting his head on the table, wanting to stay where he was, but Remus knew he had to go to potions soon. It was almost the end of term and he was afraid that if he didn't attend this class, he would fail Potions and have to repeat the first year.

"Come on, we're going to go to potions," Severus responded, "I'll talk to her."

* * *

Juliette was angry at Remus, for saying he never wanted to be her friend. Her anger was not evident within her potion making, for she utilized that energy for working on her potion. The words that Remus had said to her kept on replaying in her mind. Her best friend had said that he had never wanted to be her friend. That had really hurt her. Today they would be making a potion that would give the drinker boils all over their body. She was slowly adding the ingredients to her cauldron and her partner, Emily Faquade, was chopping them up carefully.

Severus was working with Remus and so far their potion was going quite well. Severus had left the cauldron to get some frog livers- an essential part to this potion when James decided to come up to the potion. Severus, not realizing that James had not come up to the cauldron, was quite unaware of the attempt to sabotage it. He didn't realize it when James put five nettles in it, causing unforseen consequences. When he arrived at his cauldron, it was purple and bubbling, rather than the lime green it was supposed to be. Severus's first instinct was to yell at the werewolf, rather than figure out what actually happened. "I'm sorry Severus! I wasn't paying attention. I didn't do anything to it."

Paying more attention to his potion, Severus realized that someone had tampered with it- someone had put an ingredient that didn't belong inside of it. There was only a handful of people that would do that. He almost would suspect that it was Juliette- when she got angry, she was not someone anyone wanted to mess with. Internally, Severus knew that the curly-haired girl would never do something as irrational as that.

 _It was James,_ Severus thought to himself.

Before he could tell Slughorn, the potion itself blew up. Slightly angry at himself for not knowing that the potion would blow up. He was a potions master! Some of the purple liquid touched his skin and he screamed in agony- it felt like someone poured liquid fire on his skin- and Slughorn came to where the werewolf and the "potions master" was working. The cauldron was long gone- it had melted away, causing the "fire" to pour out all over the floor. He could hear Slughorn commanding everyone to step up onto their desks. Muscles complying, Severus climbed up onto his desk, staring at the potion as it spread all over the ground.

The pain Severus felt was comparable to when he was bit by Nagini and the tears welled up in his eyes- he was reminded of the war and how he had to pretend to be someone he wasn't. Harry didn't have to stay with him as he died- that was a gesture of extreme compassion, within his heart, Severus doubted that anyone else would have stayed with him as he died. Only Harry. Honestly, he didn't deserve it.

In the distance, Severus could hear James laughing at his tears. Severus wanted to scream, but his body was no longer responding with the commands of his brain. The last thing he heard before he passed out was a thump as he hit the ground.

* * *

Professor Slughorn was aware of one of the cauldrons blowing up. Sighing, he realized that it was one of his best students, Severus Snape. That kid had potential, and Slughorn wasn't even sure if it was Snape's fault. He stared at the liquid coming out of the potion and realized that it was the equivalent of the cruciatus curse. Even touching the potion would give the user extreme pain. There was an ominous side effect- it would damage the nerves, possibly permanently, if the cure wasn't given soon enough. Whoever had messed with the potion may have done it unintentionally, but it was dangerous nonetheless. Snape's screaming was tearing his heart apart, no child should ever experience this potion.

"Everyone get up onto your desks, this is an extremely dangerous concoction," He yelled, not wanting any more students to touch it. The Professor was lucky; no one else had made contact with the potion. Grabbing his wand, he vanished the mess before Severus hit the ground, a huge relief- the first year could have passed out into the potion and that would be unbearable to experience.

The kids in the class were frantic, everyone was afraid- especially because the one person that had touched the potion was now unconscious. Thinking quickly, Slughorn accioed the antidote from the potions cabinet. He opened the jaws of Severus carefully and poured the potion into his mouth. Five minutes had passed since the cauldron had blown up and Severus had come into contact with it. This potion could damage the life of anyone within five minutes.

"Is he going to be okay?" James Potter asked, a smirk hidden on his face. He didn't know he had created the liquid cruciatus curse. He just thought it had been funny to see Snivellus screaming in pain. James 1, Snivellus 0.

Slughorn could see the smirk hidden on Potter's face, he had never been a fan of the Potter child, he was always creating mischief in his class. He knew that Severus and Potter had a slight rivalry and he knew that Dumbledore had found Severus being beat up by Sirius and James. There was very little doubt that it was Potter that had done it to the potion.

"Class dismissed, Potter, I need you to stay behind." Slughorn commanded


	14. Chapter 14

The sound of someone sobbing punctured the pleasant rest that Severus had been having. His obsidian eyes fluttered open and he realized that he was in a hospital room. He was staring into the obsidian eyes of his mother. A strange nurse was tending to him, checking the machine that was monitoring his constant heart rate. At this moment, he knew that he was not in the hospital wing of Hogwarts, but rather at some other place. "Severus, you're awake, I can't believe you made the cruciatus potion- especially after being a potions master in your previous life," His mother complained, the worry evident in her voice. She knew enough about potions to know that the cruciatus potion could cause nerve damage and the nurses had told her that the cure wasn't given to Severus for five minutes. That small span of time could end up changing Severus' life forever. Honestly, she was disappointed.

"It wasn't me that did it! It wasn't Remus either! I think it was Potter!" Severus rasped, his frail voice not ready to speak yet. Letting his mind wander back to his mother's previous words, Severus realized that she had mentioned his previous life, the life he had miserably failed at. Is it possible she had any regrets? I'm pretty sure she regretted marrying that abusive muggle, Severus thought to himself.

"Look Severus, the Heavens decided to give you a second chance. You can either choose to pursue it or you can choose to waste it. I'm pretty sure that if you truly wanted to change your fate, you wouldn't have made that potion, yet you made it, meaning you don't regret- wait you didn't make it. Who made it?" Eileen Snape asked her son.

How did his mother knew he went back in time? This year wasn't all that confusing, considering he was learning about material he had mastered a long time ago. There was no reason that his mother would know how he went back to this era for a second chance. Perplexed by the response and knowing his mother was expecting a response, Severus replied, "I made it, James Potter sabotaged it."

"You mean that arrogant bastard who always bullied you in the past life. Listen, I was sent back by the Gods as well. I was sent back to yesterday- I had died a couple of hours after you did- Tobias, that filthy muggle had beaten me to death, blaming me for the death of his-" Eileen responded.

"How come I saw you in heaven? You weren't dead when I died, how did the news reach you that fast?"

"The venom of Nagini slowed down your journey to Heaven, meaning that what may have seemed to be minutes was actually hours. I had reached Heaven quickly and had just gotten used to my surroundings as I saw you embrace Lily. I felt so bad for you, I wanted you to have another chance. Now here it is. Don't waste it Sevvy." Pausing for a moment, Eileen added, "I should have left Tobias a long time ago, but there's something holding me back. I promise to try to leave but Tobias might need to face the Wizengamot, for he committed abuse towards a Wizarding Minor. That would destroy him. I refuse to let him get away with hurting you! I would give my life in order to save yours!"

Severus could understand his mother perfectly. Possibly, if he were truly eleven, he would not have the wisdom to know what was going on, but he was nearly thirty-nine. Eileen was trying to protect him. He was at a loss for words, anything that he wanted to say would sound perfect in his head, yet the same words would sound terrible when said aloud. Not focusing on talking to his mother, he slowly became aware of how much pain he was in. Not only that, but he could hardly feel his left arm, it was though it had gone completely numb. Ignoring the new sensations, Severus blurted out, "Why would you protect a former Death Eater?"

Eileen was shocked at what her son had asked him. She knew he had been a Death Eater, but he had also been a spy for the Order in order to repent himself. "Severus, though you were a Death Eater, you redeemed yourself with your work with the Order. Not only that, but you turned to the Death Eaters when you had nowhere else to turn to."

"I was stupid in joining them! I needed a way out of all the things I faced!" Severus yelled, using his good arm to prop his pillow up. He sat up on his bed, watching the heart rate on the monitor increase. He was glad that Eileen was coming to her senses, yet he couldn't help but feel a little resentment towards his mother because of his past. She had never really helped him with anything (other than when he had been severely injured) and though it may have been out of fear of Tobias hurting her, Severus couldn't help but resent her. He had told himself that it was okay to resent her, after all, it was only a natural response to what he was going through, but most likely Severus would grow to regret it.

Severus ran the fingers on his right hand through his chin-length hair, noticing how different it felt in his slender, eleven year-old fingers. There was something new about it, someone had done something to it and Severus was clueless as to what. "Sevvy, I'm sorry I didn't come to my senses earlier, I should have broken up with Tobias. I thought the two of us had something special, something unique, almost like magic, yet magic itself is the reason he started to abuse me. Foolish, that man! Should have loved me for whom I was! Don't worry Sev, I'm getting more and more money and we'll be able to escape soon. I will buy us a new house to live in." Eileen adamantly spoke, her voice unwavering, as if she were punishing a disobedient child.

The black-haired boy nodded, understanding that his mother was doing the best that she could for him. There was still a question that lurked in the back of his thorough mind. "Mum, why did you go back in time with me?

"Sev, I wanted to give you a better life. By moving out, and no longer living with Tobias, your life will be changed in unexpected ways. Sometimes change doesn't do us any good, in fact it may cause bigger problems, but it's always worth the risk. I regretted something and there's something that I know about Tobias that no one else knows. The last timeline made it impossible for that secret to be shared, but maybe this time around, it could be possible. That single secret could change the outcome of the world." Eileen muttered, thinking of her choices and why she made them in the past. There was a reason she stayed with Tobias. A reason no one else could know. At least for now.

"Mother, will you please tell me? I would like to know. Please," Severus begged, wanting to know what his mother knew about Tobias.

"Sev, I can't tell you now, but I promise, I will tell you eventually. I've said too much already. You just need to tell Dumbledore. Please. Voldemort has horcruxes- destroying those are key to defeating him. Dumbledore needs to know about them. That's the way we can stop a war before it happens. Promise me that you'll do that, please." Eileen whispered, not wanting anyone to hear.

"I promise," Severus pledged.

_Meanwhile at Hogwarts_

Dumbledore had called James Potter into his office. Horace had told him that James slipped something into Severus's potion that made the equivalent to the cruciatus curse, causing the Ravenclaw, Severus Snape to end up in St. Mungos. He normally favoured Gryffindor as it was the house he had been in, but when something serious happened- like Severus getting severely injured- he tended to take the side of the victim. For now, Severus was slowly recovering but Dumbledore wasn't sure if the Ravenclaw would ever be the same due to the nerve damage.

"Hello Dumbledore," James Potter spoke nervously as he entered the office of the headmaster. He didn't want to get expelled for the little prank he had pulled on Snivellus- come on! It was funny. Besides, Snivelly screamed like a child when the cauldron exploded all over him. He didn't know that he had created the most painful potion known to wizard.

James didn't notice that Dumbledore's eyes lost their usual twinkle and without that twinkle, they looked dead. He also didn't expect his memories to be invaded. Not until Dumbledore shouted, "Legilimens!"


	15. Chapter 15

"Legilimens!"

James Potter was sitting at his table in potions with Sirius Black, working on the potion that would cause the drinker boils all over their body. For a second, James thought about spilling the cauldron on Snivelly's head- now that would be the best prank ever. That greasy git had no reason to exist anyways other than to cause others pain.

The Gryffindor had a better idea, he decided that he would slip some random ingredient into the potion. He watched carefully, vocalizing to Sirius his plan. Greasy-haired Severus got up and James put five nettles into the cauldron. He felt a slight tinge of guilt towards Remus but that was erased when he realized that Remus was a good friend of Snivelly. James hated Snivelly.

As the potion blew up, James could barely contain his smirk and had to cover his mouth with his hands. The look of shock on Snivelly's face was unmistakable. The screams of pain were hilarious and so were the tears. When Snivelly passed out, James started to feel guilty and when Slughorn explained how dangerous the potion really was, he felt concerned. "It wasn't me," he said, hiding a smirk, confirming his fate.

"Enough!" Dumbledore yelled. The Gryffindor was obviously guilty and had enjoyed the torture of the Ravenclaw. The Ravenclaw had to go to St. Mungos, the potion James had created had been the equivalent to the cruciatus curse. "You don't realize that you accidentally created the cruciatus curse in potion form, James, now do you?" Dumbledore demanded, angry at James for severely hurting a student.

"I-I did? I thought he was just screaming to be funny." James stuttered, not knowing the extent that Severus had been injured. He thought he had created a potion that was harmless. The screams of Severus had been hilarious at the time but now in retrospect, he felt terrible.

"Your carelessness lead to a student being injured! He could have died! He could be paralyzed for the rest of his life because of some stupid rivalry! He's now in St. Mungos recovering and he has moderate nerve damage. He might never be the same!" Dumbledore yelled, the twinkle in his eyes gone. The astonished look on James's face informed him that the Gryffindor had not expected to be yelled at by the headmaster.

Dumbledore regretted his behaviour towards Ravenclaw at the beginning of the year. When the Ravenclaw, Juliette Aurum, had been disarmed to fall down the stairs, he believed it had been accidental magic. She had ended up being severely injured and had to go to the hospital wing. He had let James and Sirius get off free. That had led to unforeseen consequences because James and Sirius now thought they could get away with anything. The two of them had tied Severus up and were beating him up as Dumbledore walked by. That's when the headmaster had realized that James and Severus had a rivalry and the Gryffindor side would do anything to hurt the Ravenclaw side. Dumbledore once again, shouted "Legilimens," to look at the memories of them hurting Juliette, something the headmaster should have done a long time ago.

Sirius asked, "James are you in love?"

James swallowed, knowing exactly who his new best friend was talking about. Sitting at the Raveclaw table, there was a vivacious girl with the curliest brown hair he had ever seen. Her eyes were ocean-blue and she was wearing a pair of enormous black glasses that complimented her eyes. Her beauty rivalled that of Lily's. She looked like she had been through a tough time, she had dark circles under her eyes. James could feel his heart pounding faster and faster and he couldn't help noticing how the girl had hugged Remus. His heart panged with jealousy, he wished he could be the one that was being hugged instead of Remus.

Mr. Potter had taught James how to use expelliarmus.

"Hey James, we have charms first with the Ravenclaws," Sirius said, a grin on his face, "Hey, why don't we prank that girl? Do you know any spells that would work?"

James nodded, knowing that it would be a fun idea to prank the girl. His father had taught him all about disarming spells, even letting the young Gryffindor acquire some hands-on experience. Expelliarmus was the one that James excelled the most in. James nodded while saying, "Expelliarmus."

Sirius' face contorted into a look of extreme curiousity. "So we use expelliarmus on that girl at the same time?" Sirius asked.

"That's the plan," James replied, excited about the prank. Snivellus was going to be so angry with them and it would be hilarious. He hoped the prank wouldn't fail- he had tried to poison Snivelly's food last night and then when his nose had been broken, he had attempted to send a Howler. He didn't realize that McGonagall's voice had intruded the recording, causing it to to be a rather embarassing experience.

The two of the walked to the charms classroom, intrigued by the moving staircases. They noticed Juliette walking through a hallway. James smiled up at Juliette and once she approached the top of the staircases, the two of them pointed their wands at her, shouting, "Expelliarmus."

The curly haired girl begun her falling descent down the stairs, screaming. James couldn't stop himself from laughing.

Dumbledore was astonished, he could not believe that his golden Gryffindor would do such a horrible thing. Thus, he exited the mind of James and angrily said, "James, I can't believe you would do such an arrogant thing like that. You've done so many terrible things here and I have just shaken them all off. You have injured more than one student and possibly have done more than just physical damage. I will be letting your father know about this and you will not be allowed to go anywhere without a Prefect at all. You will also have detention with Filch for two months. I daresay your father will not be impressed. You will need to apologize to the Ravenclaws that you have caused harm towards."

James nodded sadly, upset that he wouldn't be able to prank anyone this year. There was always next year. He felt terrible for how badly he treated the Ravenclaws and he knew he had to do something before it was too late.

•••

Severus had just been moved under Madame Pomfrey's care- he had been released just a few hours ago and would be spending a day in the hospital wing to rest. The potion had some damaging impact on his left arm, but Severus was not worried, in his previous lifetime he had created a potion that had helped nerves recover. Now if he was allowed use of the ingredients he could create the cure, but first he would have to demonstrate competence for Slughorn to allow usage of the prestigious ingredients.

It was around ten in the morning when Remus invaded the hospital wing. It was Saturday so the young Werewolf was not afraid of missing any of his classes, but he would have skipped out of class anyways to make sure his best friend was alright. He had seen the detrimental impact the potion had on Severus's body and how it had caused the black-haired boy to scream. It looked like his fellow Ravenclaw was experiencing a werewolf transformation, something extremely familiar to Remus. "Severus, how are you doing?" The werewolf asked in a considerate and delicate tone.

"I've been better. The nurses say I'll have permanent damage but I know a potion to fix that. Now only if I could get Slughorns trust, that would make me as good as new. I wish I could but he probably thinks I messed up on the potion," Severus complained, thinking about how Slughorn had previously thought he had been a prodigy but how James had ruined that for him.

"Actually, Slughorn knows that it was James. I believe James is in a meeting with Dumbledore and I'm pretty sure the headmaster will not be happy with the Gryffindor."

"I can imagine that. So Remus, how are things going with Juliette?"

Remus felt his heart rate increase considerably. He had not even bothered to apologize to the girl and in his heart he really wanted to apologize, just he didn't know how to. Remus knew he should have never accidentally insulted her and he felt terrible for doing so. By the words that he had said, he had just lost one of his friends. He hated himself for losing that, for as a werewolf, he was constantly paranoid that his secret would escape and people would know what he truly is. He never imagined he would have the rare opportunity of going to Hogwarts.

"Things are terrible," Remus admitted in a sad tone, his voice rasping. Severus had seen the explosion.

"Remus, you need to apologize. She knows you're a werewolf, Remus you have to do it. Otherwise she might tell someone and the secret will be out. Dumbledore will be in so much trouble. Please Remus if not for yourself, do it for me." Severus begged.

The werewolf stared at the black-haired boy in astonishment, he never realized that Juliette had known that he was a werewolf. He did, however want his secret to be kepts, so he agreed, saying, "I will."


	16. Chapter 16

He paced around in his study, wondering what to do with the bullies in Gryffindor. The Potter boy had been dealt with, but not Mister Black and Dumbledore knew he had to punish that boy somehow. If not, the pranks being played could get worse and worse things could happen. The headmaster had never really created rules against bullying, but now, he felt that it was the perfect time too. He set a monitoring charm on James that would make sure the arrogant Gryffindor wouldn't cause anymore trouble, for Dumbledore didn't want to deal with any of bullying.

In the wastebasket in the corner, he had thrown away several pieces of parchment with attempted letters to Mr. Potter on it. He knew exactly what he wanted to say in his mind, but when it came to putting a quill to the parchment, the words came out all jumbled and messed up. Since he was a wizard, he could have vanished the pieces of parchment, but he let them lay idle- sometimes the muggle way of doing things was better, he tended to be quite scatterbrained and would likely forget to write the letter. The failed letters were his reminder.

Since he had nothing better to do, the Headmaster began a letter to the father of James.

 _Dear Mr. Potter_ ,

_Your son, James, has been bullying other students to the point where they have to spend nights in the Hospital wing. He has been choosing to bully these people deliberately when these people had done nothing to_ _deserve it._

_I had turned a blind eye to it, believing that it was just all fun and games until James and Sirius were found beating up a Ravenclaw. Clearly one hundred house points being taken had not been enough of a punishment and James had created the equivalent to the cruciatus curse by sabotaging a student's potion. The said student had to go to St. Mungos and will face permanent effects._

_I am_   _hoping that you will take action towards this. If one more "so called prank" happens this year, I will be forced to suspend James. As it is, he is on the path to expulsion._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Headmaster of Hogwarts._

He sighed in relief, his letter had finally been finished, he had found the right words to say and he was sure Mr. Potter would take action towards his son's behaviour. He left his letter on his desk and waited for the ink to dry. Severus Snape was in the hospital wing, having been released from St Mungos just this morning. He would stay there for the night, just so Poppy could check him over.

The ink had finally dried so the Headmaster folded up the letter and gave it to Fawkes. "Go to Potter Manor," Dumbledore said.

Now he had to write a letter to Minerva to punish Sirius for his behaviour was inexcusable. He wanted to punish him as he had punished James but the boy didn't create the cruciatus potion. However clearly the house potions being taken had not been enough so he had to take action.

_Minerva,_

_Your Gryffindor, Sirius Black, needs to be_   _punished after I have caught him bullying Severus Snape. I would recommend detention with Filch, but you can do anything within reason._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Headmaster of Hogwarts._

He sent that letter to the transfigurations professor using a tawny owl that he had recieved from St. Mungos. That owl had delivered a letter discussing the condition of Severus Snape and had not wanted to leave.

He gave the letter to the owl and she flew off. Casting a quick Tempus spell, Dumbledore checked that he had two hours until dinner.

He headed to the Hospital wing to check on Severus.

* * *

"Dumbledore, what brings you here to the hospital wing?" Severus asked, wondering why Dumbledore would choose to visit him, the insignificant Ravenclaw. The Albus Dumbledore of the past wouldn't have cared about him at all.

"Severus, you know James is going to be punished for this, right? Anyways, I was wondering if you were okay." Dumbledore whispered.

"I'm fine, just a little injured, not something a potion can't fix."

"Good to know. No one should ever know agonizing pain of the cruciatus curse." Severus flinched and looked up at Dumbledore, future knowledge evident in his eyes. The older man knew that the potion had caused him the effect of the cruciatus curse. What Albus didn't know was that Severus was from the future, a future where Severus had killed the wiser and older man. Often in that future, Severus was put under the cruciatus curse for betraying his "lord".

Dumbledore seemed to notice how Severus had flinched when he mentioned the cruciatus curse. That simply wasn't natural. For a second, Dumbledore wondered whether his parents had used the cruciatus curse on him. Reminding himself that Tobias Snape was a muggle and Eileen was unlikely to do such a thing, Dumbledore eliminated that possibility.

The old man was certain that none of the Ravenclaw prefects knew how to cast the most painful curse known to wizards. Letting curiousity get to him, he mumbled " _legilimens"._ Dumbledore entered the mind of Severus, and found a pine-coloured box. The box wasn't locked like Albus had expected; it was wide open. The meddling old man opened up the box and a gush of wind blow him onto his rump.

Sighing, the old man brushed himself off before heading towards the opened box. With each step he took towards it, there was a sense of impending doom. Curiousity overwhemeled him and he ran closer, towards it and looked at the contents.

_There was a boy who looked like Severus Snape who had just been sorted into Slytherin. "Severus" took steps towards the Slytherin table where he was patted on the back by Lucius Malfoy. The prideful blonde-haired prefect was a pureblood supremacist and hated anything to do with half-bloods._

_"Severus" had just figured out the secret to what was in the shrieking shack. Eagerly, the boy ran and touched the Whomping Willow, causing it to stop moving and the black-haired boy moved into the passage. Dumbledore wanted to run and stop him, but he couldn't do anything, this was just like a penseive. Curiousity once again getting the better of him, he followed "Severus" down the passage and found James Potter who had tackled "Severus" and told the greasy-haired kid to run. Before running away, Dumbledore looked into the eyes of a werewolf._

_Dumbledore witnessed Severus being flipped upside down by a group of boys. The old man wanted to look away as they pantsed the undeserving kid. "Lily" had stood up for "Severus" before he called her a mudblood._

_"Severus" was repeatedly apologizing to Lily- she wasn't accepting the apology and Dumbledore didn't know that the fiery red-head would never be friends with the black-haired boy again._

_"Severus" was begging for forgiveness at his feet, for being a death-eater. Dumbledore found that he had forgiven the boy, despite wanting to rid the world of death-eaters. He thought the boy was sick for not caring about the child of Lily, nor the husband._

_"Severus" was pleading Voldemort not to kill Lily._

_"Severus" breaking down after the death of Lily._

_Dumbledore pleading for Severus to kill him._

_His murder at Severus's hands._

Dumbledore exited the Ravenclaw's mind. "Severus do you care to explain what I just saw in your mind? Clearly these are memories you have surpressed, you haven't wanted anything to do with them. There must be a reason," Dumbledore asked in a stern voice.

Severus was angry at the headmaster for entering his mind without his permission. He glared up at the headmaster who only chuckled. Severus frowned, realizing that it would have been easier for the headmaster to see the memories rather than having Severus repeat them to him.

"Look, to make a long story short, I was brought back to life by some supernatural force. I guess I deserved a second chance to make things different. I don't see why though. Why would I deserve it?" Severus explained.

"Seeing your memories, I can only come to one conclusion; your regret overpowered your happiness. That has not been the case for over 300 years." Dumbledore paused before adding, "Besides, that doesn't explain why you killed me."

"Voldemort has things things called horcruxes and you put one one, the Gaunt family ring. It had a curse on it that would eventually kill the wearer. I made you a potion which would make you live for a year after you touched it, however Draco Malfoy, the son of Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy was assigned the impossible task of killing you. This was after Harry Potter defeated Voldemort and Voldemort came back. There was a battle in the Department of Mysteries and Sirius Black fell through the veil of death. To make a long story short, Lucius was sent to Azkaban and Voldemort who was angry, gave Draco the task of killing you. I killed you so Draco didn't have to."

"So Voldemort has horcruxes. Do you know how many?"

"Seven."

Dumbledore felt giddy with joy after learning this. He practically skipped out of the Infirmirary and knew that he had found the key to defeating Voldemort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are on the path of hurricane Irma, please stay safe. By the time of updating, it will probably be too late to leave, but please stay safe and take care of yourself. My heart goes out to all of the victims of all the weather disasters that have happened this year, from the forest fires to the hurricanes.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> (All the chapters before this one were originally posted on Fanfiction.net under the same name and my username, Lumiellie. They were all written up to this point, the next chapter may not be up for a few days.)


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